Ukraine's international reserves sufficient to continue state debt payments until end of 2020 – NBU

REUTERS Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Yakiv Smolii, says the country&#39;s international reserves are sufficient to cover a period of peak payments on state debt until the end of 2020. "The volume of Ukraine&#39;s international reserves is sufficient to cover the period of peak payments on public debt until the end of 2020, even without external financing. However, further prospects for the country&#39;s economic growth will directly depend on progress in implementing structural reforms," he said at a coordination meeting with heads of the country&#39;s major banks on June 20. According to Smolii, this refers to the reforms that envisaged by the Ukraine-IMF cooperation program. He added that further promotion of reforms was important not only for preserving the country&#39;s macro-financial stability, but also for ensuring its long-term economic growth. Read alsoUkraine&#39;s Finance Ministry borrows almost UAH 1.5 bln, over US$305 mln on domestic market "Further cooperation with the IMF is the key to investors&#39; confidence, and it affects the cost of debt capital for Ukraine," the NBU head said. UNIAN memo. In March 2015, the IMF approved a four-year EEF loan program for Ukraine under which $17.5 billion will be disbursed. Under the program, Ukraine has received only four disbursements from the Fund to the tune of $8.7 billion due to the slow implementation of the agreed reforms. The program is expiring in March 2019. However, the National Bank of Ukraine and the Finance Ministry expect to receive $1.9 billion from the IMF in 2018. The key requirements of the IMF to continue cooperation include passing a law on setting up an independent anti-corruption court consistent with the recommendations of the Venice Commission, as well as bringing gas prices to import parity and providing a mechanism for their automatic regulation, with a change in the price conjuncture. Read alsoUkraine may get fifth IMF tranche by autumn – NBU governor According to Ukraine&#39;s finance ministry, forthcoming payments related to state and government-guaranteed debt in 2018-2020 as of June 18 are estimated at UAH 937.52 billion in the hryvnia equivalent or at $35.5 billion (at the NBU current rate). Ukraine&#39;s total international reserves stood at $18.120 billion as of June 1, 2018, which was 2.5% down against the figure recorded at the beginning of the year.

Ukraine's international reserves sufficient to continue state debt payments until end of 2020 – NBU

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