Ukraine’s international reserves was USD 35.9 billion as of May 1, reaching the highest level in the past eleven years, the press office of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) wrote on May 4.
Last time Ukraine’s international reserves were higher was in August 2011.
The reserves volume increased in April by 13% because of the international support inflow amid further dropping of net FX sales by the NBU and moderate international debt repayments by Ukraine.
Inflows to the government’s accounts and the servicing of the state dept were the main contributors in the international reserves’ dynamics in April.
The amount of international support in the last month was impressive. Revenues totalled to $5.85 billion, which was were channelled to the government’s accounts in the past month, including
- $2.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
- $1.7 billion of the EU macrofinancial assistance,
- $1.25 billion from the U.S. via the World Bank’s trust fund,
- $242 million domestic FX government bonds.
The servicing and repayment of Ukraine’s state debt cost $446 billion in the past month, including:
- $282.7 million for repayments on domestic FX government bonds,
- $113.1 billion for repayments to the World Bank,
- $50.2 billion on paying off debt to other international organisations.
Additionally, Ukraine in April paid $107.4 million to the IMF.
NBU transactions in the domestic FX market had the following impact: $1.3 billion was sold while $3.7 billion was bought. Net FX sales fell in April by $298.5 million compared to March.
The NBU’s interventions to sell FX currency in the Ukrainian FX market have declined for the fourth month in a row due to lower energy imports, increased sales of foreign currency for the sowing season, and increased activity of metallurgical enterprises.
Further restrictions on unproductive capital outflows from Ukraine also impacted the process.
The NBU says it has managed to stabilize the exchange rate expectations thanks to following a consistent monetary policy aimed at increasing the attractiveness of hryvnia assets and its refusal to directly finance the budget deficit in 2023.
The revaluation of financial instruments due to changes in market values and exchange rates also had an impact. The value of financial instruments increased by $128.7 million in April.
The current volume of international reserves is enough to cover 4.7 months of future imports.