KIEV, Aug. 18 – There is currently no reason for the hryvnia to fall, President Viktor Yushchenko said in a statement on his official website.

"There are currently no factors that may have a negative effect on the stability of the hryvnia exchange rate, apart from the one – an uncontrollable budget deficit. But this question can be easily resolved – either with the participation of the National Bank or without it, and through the support of a weak or strict budget policy in Ukraine," he said at a meeting with National Bank of Ukraine Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh on Tuesday.

Yushchenko expressed concern that the NBU was the only customer of sovereign bonds and that UAH 36 billion had been spent for this goal.