In the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the sanctions imposed and the turbulence on the stock markets, exchange rates are also continuing strongly. Online exchange offices have seen a marked increase in traffic, and more than one billion zlotys have been exchanged in the last 10 days in the Walutomat.
Political uncertainties in the world always lead to strong currency movements. Investors are looking for quiet harbours and this usually leads to rising exchange rates such as the dollar, the euro and the Swiss franc.
“Customers use these fluctuations to protect their savings, to try to beat further increase, or to change the currency at a still affordable price”, says Maciej Przygórzewski, head of the Walutomat’s operations department. – In our service, we see an enormous increase in interest in buying all major currencies of the world. In the last 10 days, the turnover of the website has reached PLN 1 billion”, adds M. Przygórzewski.
The ruble is suspended
Online exchange offices also had to react quickly to the situation of the ruble. After Russia was cut off from the SWIFT system by sanctions, they suspended trade in that currency. “This was necessary because it was not possible to complete a transaction in the Russian ruble, nor was it possible to send it to and from the website”, explains Przygórzewski. “This situation is likely to last several weeks depending on the scenario.”
What about the hryvnia?
This currency has problems with exchange rates and cannot be exchanged at most exchange offices. There are several reasons for this situation. “There is far too much cash on the Polish market. Banks do not offer accounts in this currency, which makes online trading difficult, and even if it were possible, it is almost impossible to sell the currency through the Internet”, explains the Walutomat analyst.
As you can see, the political situation has an immediate impact on the economy and the dynamic situation of the currencies. We saw similar increases in hard currencies, the euro or the dollar, during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic or Brexit.