Net foreign reserves over $18 bln – NBU Council chief

Ukraine's net international reserves as of January 1 amounted to $18.1 billion, which is 19% more than in early December 2020 ($15.2 billion), says Head of the Council of the National Bank, Bohdan Danylyshyn.

"Net international reserves of the NBU (excluding debt to the IMF) as of January 1, 2021, amounted to $18.1 billion. They are sufficient to cover payments by the public sector and the National Bank on external debt to non-residents, which in 2021 will amount to about $7.2 billion," Danylyshyn wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, January 12.

Read alsoUkraine's international reserves expand by 15% in 2020Of the external debt to non-residents, about $2 billion in September 2021 must be paid on Eurobonds, as well as to cover the current account deficit, which the NBU forecast says is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2021.

The volume of planned payments by the government in favor of the International Monetary Fund in 2021 is about $1.6 billion, including $1.36 billion for the repayment of the principal amount of debt and $260 million – on interest.

"The need to refinance Ukraine's debt to the IMF requires the parties to fulfill their obligations under the current stand-by arrangement, which will allow Ukraine to attract IMF financing in the amount of about $2.9 billion," Danylyshyn wrote.

The head of the NBU Council said that, taking into account payments on debt of the banking and corporate sectors, as well as inter-company debt, the total volume of payments from Ukraine in favor of non-residents in 2021 will stand at about $15.5 billion.

Background

In November 2020, net foreign reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine were down by 0.9% to $15.2 billion.

Memo

Net international reserves are the difference between gross reserves and the remaining debt of the NBU and the Finance Ministry on loans provided by the International Monetary Fund.