According to preliminary estimates by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Ukraine’s international reserves decreased by 4.9%, or UAH 1.98 billion, to $38.525 billion in January. “This dynamics is due to the NBU’s foreign exchange interventions to maintain exchange rate stability, the country’s debt payments in foreign currency, and lower international aid inflows compared to previous months,” the NBU explained on its website on Tuesday.
Among other factors that determine the amount of reserves, the NBU cited operations in the foreign exchange market: in January, the regulator’s net sale of foreign currency amounted to $2.53 million, which is 29% less than the previous month.
The regulator noted that in January, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred $898.9 million to the NBU account, and paid $441.6 million for servicing and repaying the public debt.
The NBU also pointed out that the current volume of reserves was positively affected by the revaluation of financial instruments, adding $86.3 million.
“The current volume of international reserves provides financing for 5.1 months of future imports,” the central bank stated.
As reported, in January, the NBU lowered its forecast for Ukraine’s international reserves at the end of 2024 to $40.4 billion from $44.7 billion and to $42.1 billion from $45 billion at the end of 2025.
