Ukraine's international reserves grow to US$26.6 bln as of March 1

Ukraine's international reserves grew to US$26.623 billion as of March 1, 2020, which was 1.3% up on February 1, 2020.

Since the year's start, the country's reserves have expanded by 5%, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on its website.

"In February, the international reserves grew by 1.3% primarily on the back of persisting favorable conditions on the forex market," the NBU said.

Read alsoNBU replenishes int'l reserves by almost US$700 mln in Feb

The NBU's purchases of foreign currency in the interbank forex market exceeded its sales by US$689 million.

Overall, the government spent US$768.8 million (in the equivalent) on servicing and repaying public debt denominated in foreign currency. Whereof US$417.2 million were repayments under forex domestic government debt securities, US$213.6 million – repayments of the government and the NBU to the International Monetary Fund, and US$33.7 million – repayments under eurobonds. The rest was used to service other liabilities to other foreign creditors and international financial institutions.

"At the same time, the government raised US$202.3 million by offering forex domestic government debt securities," it said.

Last month, the value of financial instruments increased by US$207.2 million (in the equivalent).

The current amount of the reserves covers four months' worth of imports.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's international reserves as of February 1, 2020, amounted to US$26.3 billion, which was 4% up on the previous month.

In 2019, Ukraine saw a 22% increase in its international reserves, to US$25.3 billion, which was a seven-year high.