Ukraine’s international reserves as of July 1, 2022, according to preliminary data, amounted to $22.757 billion (in equivalent), which is 9% less than at the beginning of June ($25.1 billion), according to the data National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), released on Thursday.
“As of July 1, 2022, Ukraine’s international reserves, according to preliminary data, amounted to $22.757 billion. In June, they decreased by 9% due to the sale of foreign exchange currency on the interbank market. The intensification of the flow of international assistance to Ukraine made it possible to partially comment appropriate interventions,” the regulator explained.
The central bank notes that the dynamics of reserves in June was affected by public debt management operations: the total volume of payments for servicing and repaying state and state-guaranteed debt in foreign currency amounted to $833.6 million in equivalent.
It is specified that $672.1 million of them were directed to the repayment of government bonds, $70.1 million – to service external government loans, and the rest of the amount – to settlements with other creditors.
At the same time, in June, foreign exchange earnings in favor of the government amounted to $2.763 billion in equivalent, including $967.4 million from the World Bank, $779 million from the government of Canada, $479.4 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and $354.2 million from the placement of foreign currency government bonds.
In addition, the NBU and the government of Ukraine in June paid $166.2 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The NBU operations on the interbank market also affected the dynamics of reserves. In June, the regulator sold $3.987 billion on the foreign exchange market and bought $31 million.
In addition, the dynamics of the indicator was affected by the revaluation of financial instruments (changes in the market value and the exchange rate of the hryvnia against foreign currencies): last month their value decreased by $152.2 million in equivalent, according to NBU data.
The regulator also clarified that the net international reserves of Ukraine in June decreased by $2 billion, or by 13.4%, to $12.9 billion.
As reported, at the beginning of 2022, Ukraine’s international reserves amounted to $30.941 billion, net international reserves – $20.767 billion.
Ukraine’s international reserves as of 1 August 2021 stood at an equivalent of $28.951 billion, which is 2.1% more than as of early July 2021 ($27.358 billion), according to data from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) published on Thursday.
“As of 1 August 2021, Ukraine’’s international reserves stood at an equivalent of $28,951.1 million, according to preliminary data. In July, international reserves increased by 2.1%, primarily due to the government’s placement of eurobonds and purchases by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) of foreign currency on the interbank FX market,” the NBU said.
The central bank said that international reserves in July were affected by the following factors: first, transactions related to public debt management. The government spent $416.9 million (in the equivalent) on servicing and repayment of public debt denominated in foreign currency, including $368.9 million in repayments on domestic government debt securities, while the rest of the funds went to meet the government’s other FX commitments.
FX inflows to the government amounted to $665.8 million (in the equivalent), of which $525.8 million (in the equivalent) came from a placement of eurobonds, and $140 million (in the equivalent) from domestic government debt securities.
Second, the NBU’s transactions in the FX interbank market also affected international reserves in July. During the first weeks of July, the interbank FX market was mostly balanced. On some days, however, mainly in the second half of the month, market supply exceeded demand, in part due to a pick-up in FX sales by a number of private and state-owned companies. This enabled the NBU to add $188 million to international reserves.
Third, the revaluation of financial instruments (due to changes in their market value and exchange rate fluctuations) affected international reserves. Last month, the value of these instruments increased by $156.5 million (in the equivalent).
International reserves now cover 4.1 months of future imports, sufficient for Ukraine to meet its commitments, and for the government and the NBU to make their current transactions.
In addition, the NBU said that Ukraine’s net international reserves (NIR) in June increased by $551 million, or 3.1%, to $18.528 billion.
Ukraine’s international reserves have grown to over $28.5 billion, which is 12.6% more than as of December 1, 2020 ($25.3 billion), Head of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Bohdan Danylyshyn has said.
“The international reserves of the NBU on December 28 remained at a level close to an eight-year high – more than $28.5 billion, having increased by $3.2 billion since the beginning of the year,” he wrote on Facebook.
He added that the balance of foreign exchange interventions of the NBU since the beginning of the year amounted to $1.1 billion.
As reported, at the beginning of this year, Ukraine’s international reserves amounted to $25.302 billion, and net international reserves some $15.785 billion.
In the structure of reserves at the beginning of the year, securities accounted for 84.2%, cash, correspondent accounts and deposits for 10.9%, and gold for 4.8%.
