REUTERS
According to the regulator, the decrease is related to payoffs on public debt.
International reserves of Ukraine in May decreased by $301 million, or 1.6%, down to $18,120 billion as of June 1, 2018.
The current level of reserves is by $460.64 million, or 2.47%, lower than the amount recorded at the beginning of the year, according to preliminary data the National Bank of Ukraine released on its website.
According to the regulator, the reduction is related to the payments on public debt in foreign currency.
In particular, in May, the government and central bank paid $455.1 million in favor of the International Monetary Fund, while $214.4 million was allocated for government payments for servicing and repaying public debt.
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In May, the National Bank bought $181.2 million in the interbank market. All such transactions were carried out as interventions at the best rate.
Also, last month, $272.3 million and EUR 64.6 million came from the government's placement of domestic bonds.
According to the NBU, as of June 1, 2018, the amount of international reserves covers 3.2 months of future imports and remains sufficient to meet Ukraine's commitments on current operations of the government and the National Bank.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's international reserves in April increased by $230 million, or 1.3%, to $18.421 billion as of May 1, 2018.
In 2017, Ukraine's foreign reserves grew by 21% to $18.808 billion.
The National Bank has improved the forecast for international reserves of Ukraine by late 2018 to $21.6 billion from $20.5 billion projected earlier, expecting for this year's inflow of $2 billion from the International Monetary Fund, as well as other receipts.