REUTERS
The gold and foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) expanded by 1.2%, or $157 million, in September 2015, to $12.774 billion, according to a posting on the NBU's official website.
The NBU notes that the growth of the reserves was primarily due to disbursements from international and bilateral partners of Ukraine in favor of the government, as well as swap transactions with the central banks of other countries.
NBU interventions in the interbank forex market were also conductive to the accumulation of the country's international reserves. During the month, net purchases of foreign currency by the regulator amounted to $152.3 million.
In particular, at currency auctions held by the central bank since September 17, 2015, it has bought $143.7 million in foreign currency.
The NBU notes that it funneled $72.9 million (excluding IMF payments) in the past month into repayment and servicing of state and government-guaranteed debts. At the same time, the Ukrainian government and the NBU transferred $175.7 million in payments to the IMF in September.
Currently, Ukraine's gold and foreign currency reserves are sufficient to meet its obligations and perform ongoing transactions handled by the government and the National Bank of Ukraine, the statement reads.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the NBU's gold and foreign currency reserves grew by 21.6%, or $2.2 billion, amounting to $12.6 billion in August.
In 2014, the NBU reserves shrank by 63.1%, or $12.883 billion, to $7.533 billion by January 1, 2015.