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Reserves declined as a result of significant public debt payments.
Ukraine’s international reserves as of the beginning of May amounted to US$20.525 billion, which is 0.5% lower than a month earlier, the National Bank of Ukraine reported on its website.
Reserves have shrunk, despite the favorable situation in the foreign exchange market, as a result of a significant volume of payments on public debt.
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Thus, during the month, $881.7 million was allocated for servicing and paying off state and publicly guaranteed debt in foreign currency.
These expenses were partially compensated by the proceeds from the placement of T-bills in foreign currency worth EUR 416.6 million and EUR 2.6 million.
In addition, the favorable situation in the foreign exchange market allowed the NBU to replenish reserves through the purchase of foreign currency worth $299.9 million.
Due to the revaluation of financial instruments, the cost of reserves increased by $54 million.
According to the data presented, since the beginning of the year, reserves have decreased by 1.4%.
It is also reported that as of May 1, the volume of reserves covers 3.4 months of future imports.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the central bank had revised upwards its forecast for Ukraine's international reserves in 2019 from US$20.6 billion, to US$21.2 billion.
The forecast for 2020 was also improved from US$21.4 billion to US$21.9 billion, while that for 2021 was revised upwards from US$21.4 billion to US$21.8 billion, according to the regulator's website.
The NBU also improved the balance of payments forecast, reducing its deficit in 2019 from US$1.1 billion to US$0.3 billion.