KIEV: The surplus of Ukraine’s balance of payment in January 2016 reached $120 million, while a year ago its deficit was $890 million, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has reported on its official website. The central bank said that the deficit of the current account in January was $379 million ($288 million in January 2015).
Exports fell more quickly than imports: the downward pace of exports grew to 32.1% (14.1% in December 2015), while the falling pace of imports fell to 22.9% (34%). Exports of goods decreased by 41.2% compared to December 2015 and imports – by 22.5%.
Exports of goods in January 2016 reached $1.8 billion. Exports of ferrous and non-ferrous metals fell by 46.8%, mineral products (including ores) by 44.4%, chemical products – by 40.3%, engineering products by 32.4% and food by 19.8%.
The central bank said that exports to Asia and Russia fell most of all – almost halved. The share of Asia decreased to 32.7% (39.2% in January 2015), and the share of Russia was 6.6% (8.6%). Exports to the EU fell by 7.6%, and its share grew to 41.1% (30.2%).
The NBU said that imports totaled $2.4 billion. Energy imports plunged by 52.4% (56.5% in December 2015), while non-energy imports declined only by 6.8% (26.1%). Imports of food decreased by 4.1% (42.5%), chemical products by 4.8% (25.7%), while imports of engineering products rose by 6.3% (11.4% down in December 2015).
The central bank said that imports from Russia dropped by 60% year-over-year, and its share of total imports fell to 10.1% from 19.9%. Imports from the EU fell by 14.4%, while its share grew to 35.1% from 31.7%. Net foreign borrowing in January totaled $380 million ($288 million in January 2015). In January 2016, net inflow of funds to the financial account was $500 million, while in January 2015 outflow was $602 million. Additionally, the central bank assessed the increase in foreign direct investment by $23 million.
In January, the net increase in foreign position of the banking system for transactions with portfolio and other investment was $54 million, which is linked to a rise in foreign assets. The NBU said that the credit debt grew by $265 million and off-bank cash fell by $298 million.
Net inflow for private sector’s transactions was $479 million, while outflow in January 2015 was s$584 million. The central bank said that the formation of the surplus of the balance of payment entailed a rise in forex reserves to $13.4 billion, which is enough to cover imports for 3.5 months.
