KIEV: The international reserves of Ukraine by the beginning of August stood at $17.795 billion, which is 1% less than a month earlier, according to the relevant preliminary data posted by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on its website. According to the central bank, a slight change in reserves was primarily due to the government’s expenses in the amount of $579.4 million for servicing and repaying public debt, including $509.9 million on government domestic loan bonds denominated in foreign currency.
The inflow of reserves in the amount of $157.9 million was provided by the placement of government domestic loan bonds denominated in foreign currency, as well as the NBU’s currency interventions in the interbank market, which resulted in net forex purchases of $29.8 million. According to the NBU, as of August 1 the level of reserves covered 3.7 months of future imports and is sufficient to fulfill Ukraine’s obligations and the current operations of the government and the National Bank. In general, since the beginning of this year the volume of reserves has increased by 15%.
