The National Bank of Ukraine will change its mechanism for placing three-month certificates of deposit starting August 7, 2026, the central bank announced. The step marks the first stage in modernizing the operational design of the regulator's interest rate policy.
Instead of fully satisfying all bank applications, the central bank will conduct interest rate tenders with a predetermined placement volume for three-month certificates of deposit. These auctions will take place once every two weeks.
The National Bank of Ukraine explained that tender volumes will be set to keep hryvnia savings instruments attractive and encourage commercial banks to compete more actively for depositors. A bank's ability to place funds in three-month certificates will continue to depend on its performance in attracting term hryvnia deposits from the public.
Operational policy changes and deposit growth
According to the central bank's assessment, the current operational model introduced in 2023 helped strengthen the role of the key policy rate and increased competition among banks for deposits. Average yields on term deposits ranged from 9% to 12% in 2022, but rose above 14% in July 2026 despite a lower key policy rate.
Retail term hryvnia deposits have grown by almost 10% since the start of 2026 and have doubled since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Personal investments in hryvnia domestic government bonds increased by 1.5 times over that period and nearly eight times compared to the start of the war.
The regulator noted that certain elements of the current model began losing relevance as bank lending grew and the money market activated. The modernization aims to make the key policy rate a more effective market benchmark, strengthen monetary transmission, and create conditions for further money market development.
Tender schedule and key rate increase
The first interest rate tender for three-month certificates of deposit will be held on August 7. The National Bank of Ukraine will publish placement volume information on the day before the tender and release the results after completion.
On July 30, the National Bank of Ukraine raised its key policy rate by half a percentage point to 15.5% per annum. The central bank stated that the rate increase was intended to halt accelerating inflation and preserve financial stability.
