Ukraine's state debt grows by 2.6% in Jan-Feb

The Accounting Chamber of Ukraine says the state debt in January-February 2020 grew by more than 2.6%, or by UAH 46 billion (US$1.8 billion) over the devaluation of the hryvnia, Ukraine's national currency, to foreign currencies, in which the debt is denominated, and the excess of government borrowing over debt repayment.

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The country's external debt increased by UAH 61.2 billion (US$2.4 billion), or 6.6%, while internal debt shrank by UAH 14.8 billion (US$577.7 million), or 1.8%, according to the Chamber's website, referring to the analysis of the national budget fulfilment in January-February.

At the same time, UAH 51.7 billion (US$2 billion), or 87.6% of planned funds, was spent to pay off the public debt.

The savings in servicing the debt were accumulated due to the lower hryvnia exchange rate against the dollar than it is envisaged in the 2020 national budget, the report said.

In particular, the actual hryvnia exchange rate was UAH 24 per dollar on average in January-February, whereas the budget for 2020 is based on the rate at UAH 27.

This led to a UAH 2.3 billion (US$89.8 million) shortfall of budget receipts in January alone.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's state and government-guaranteed debt, estimated in U.S. dollars, shrank by 1.1%, or by US$0.9 billion, to US$83.4 billion in January 2020.

The debt in the hryvnia equivalent over the period under review rose by 4%, or by UAH 80.7 billion, to UAH 2.079 trillion.