The Ukrainian parliament has lifted restriction on the use of the hryvnia in foreign economic transactions, supporting a proposal of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

The law was passed at first reading by the parliament on Tuesday: a total of 274 lawmakers supported the law.

The draft law drawn up by the NBU (No. 9488) proposed to revise a cabinet resolution on the currency regulation system, which has been in effect since 1993.

The NBU proposed to cancel restrictions on obtaining a personal license to perform foreign trade payments in hryvnias.

The introduction of the requirements foreseen in the draft will reduce the burden on the Ukrainian currency market and will promote a cut in the currency risks of Ukrainian exporters and importers in foreign trade transactions through the reorientation of payments in hryvnias, and it will also improve the position of the national currency on international markets, the central bank said.

The NBU said that the hryvnia is practically unused in foreign economic payments for goods and services: its share in January-August 2011 was only 0.1% of total payments.