Ukraine’s international reserves grow 5.5%, says central bank
Reserves growth due mainly to stable revenues from international partners, fall in net FX sales (Photo:NBU)
Ukraine's international reserves increased by 5.5% in October after falling over the previous month, the press service of the National Bank of Ukraine, Ukraine’s central bank, said on Nov. 7.
The NBU said international reserves in October increased to $25.24 billion.
The main reasons for the growth of reserves of the central bank were stable revenues from international partners and a decrease in net sales of foreign currency by the central bank.
In October, Ukraine received $4.2 billion in financial assistance. The largest incoming sums were from the European Union ($1.95 billion), the IMF ($1.3 billion), and the World Bank ($498.8 million).
On top of that, the government received another $424.8 million from the placement of domestic government bonds issued in foreign currencies.
The government paid $684.1 million to service and repay the public debt in foreign currency. Of this amount, $561.5 million was spent on payments on foreign currency government bonds, $84.5 million – on a loan from the World Bank, and $38.1 million – on debt to other international creditors.
Ukraine also paid $85.1 million to the IMF.
On the interbank market, the NBU sold $2.1 billion in foreign currency from reserves last month, and bought back $47.7 million for reserves. Net sales of foreign currency in October decreased to $2.05 billion.
The volume of international reserves was also affected by the revaluation of financial instruments due to changes in market value and exchange rates. In October, their value decreased by $33.2 million.
The current volume of international reserves provides financing for 3.2 months of current imports. This is sufficient to meet Ukraine's obligations and current operations of the government and the central bank.
In August, Ukraine's international reserves increased by 13.6% thanks to international assistance.
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