The National Bank of Ukraine set the official exchange rate of foreign currencies for Wednesday, September 23, 2026. Compared to the previous banking day, the US dollar strengthened, while the European currency, conversely, became cheaper. According to NBU data, the official US dollar rate on September 23 is 44.78 hryvnias, which is 8 kopecks higher than the previous day's figure. The official euro rate is set at 51.33 hryvnias — over the course of a day, the European currency lost 3 kopecks. Thus, at the interbank level, a classic diverging dynamic is observed: the dollar rises, the euro falls.
What this means for citizens and businesses
For Ukrainians who plan to exchange currency or receive their salary in a foreign currency, changes of a few kopecks may at first glance seem insignificant. However, it is precisely the daily adjustments by the NBU that form the benchmark for commercial banks and exchange offices, which set their spreads relative to the official rate. In practice, the buying and selling rates at banks and exchange offices always differ from the official one: for 100 dollars and 100 euros, retail customers receive less than the NBU rate implies, while when buying currency, they are asked to pay more. Therefore, for large transactions, experts recommend comparing the quotes of several banks and taking into account not only the rate but also the fees.
Is the dollar a reliable store of savings?
The question of whether it is worth keeping savings in dollars remains one of the most discussed among depositors. Taras Kozak, founder and president of the investment group "UNIVER," emphasized in a comment for RBC-Ukraine that the dollar is indeed a stronger currency than the hryvnia, but the US currency also has inflation. "The cost of life in dollars grows annually — depending on the year, the rate of increase may be 3%, 5%, or 10%," the expert explained. According to him, the notion of the dollar as a currency that can simply be stored for years is a myth: "Americans use dollars as a payment instrument and as an asset invested in something." In other words, dollars are not simply kept "under the mattress" but are invested in assets to generate income.
Contradictory data
When verifying publications on the topic, a discrepancy in the presentation of the rate dynamics was found. In the headline of one of the sources (glavred.info), the dollar's rise is described as "sharp," whereas according to the actual NBU figures, the change was only 8 kopecks per day — this is a moderate, not a sharp, movement. In addition, the headline of the tsn.ua article mentions the zloty rate on September 23, however, the specific figure for the zloty is absent in the provided primary data, making its verification impossible. Thus, the basic rates of the dollar (44.78 UAH) and the euro (51.33 UAH) are confirmed, but stylistic assessments ("sharp") and the mention of the zloty without a figure require caution when citing.
Conclusion
On September 23, 2026, the NBU fixed the dollar rate at 44.78 UAH (+8 kopecks) and the euro at 51.33 UAH (−3 kopecks). Experts remind that no currency, including the dollar, is automatically a "reliable" store of value without accounting for inflation: to preserve the real value of savings, currency must not simply be stored but invested in income-generating assets.
