UAH rate affects the level of public debt / Photo from UNIAN
Because of the depreciation of the currency, Ukraine's public debt has increased by almost UAH 500 bln in 2015.
The level of state debt of Ukraine in relation to gross domestic product amounted to 79% at the end of 2015, according to Halyna Pakhachuk, director of the Public Debt Management Department of the Ministry of Finance, who spoke at a news conference Friday.
"We wrapped up the year with [public debt being at] 79% to GDP. Our ultimate level is 60%. After completion of the debt operation, we must adopt a program of debt reduction to our budget rule of 60% of GDP. But this is an extremely difficult task," she said.
Read alsoUkraine to borrow almost UAH 218 bln in 2016 to prop up budgetPakhachuk noted that the hryvnia exchange rate and the volume of GDP affect the level of public debt.
Read alsoGermany asks Ukraine to boost debt terms after Russia rebuffAs UNIAN reported earlier, the total amount of public and publicly guaranteed debt of Ukraine as of December 31, 2015, amounted to $65.488 billion, which is 6.19%, or $4.324 billion, lower than at the beginning of the year. The total amount of public and publicly guaranteed debt in the hryvnia equivalent amounted to UAH 1.572 trillion at the same date, which is 42.78%, or UAH 470.932 billion, higher compared to the beginning of the year.