NBU’s International Reserves Down 0.02% To USD 26.1 Billion In November

In November, the international reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) decreased by 0.02% to USD 26.135 billion.

The NBU has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

As of December 1, 2020, according to preliminary data, Ukraine's international reserves amounted to USD 26,135.7 million (in equivalent).

In November, they decreased by USD 4.7 million (in equivalent) as a result of the repayment of external and internal liabilities of the state and the operations of the National Bank to smooth out exchange rate fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, were balanced by foreign exchange receipts in favor of the government.

In general, the dynamics of reserves during November was determined by the following factors.

First, the government's debt management operations.

Foreign exchange earnings in favor of the government amounted to USD 355.5 million (in equivalent), including USD 345.5 million (in equivalent) from the placement of government domestic loan bonds.

At the same time, the total volume of payments for servicing and repaying public debt in foreign currency amounted to USD 319.6 million (in equivalent).

Of this amount, USD 245.9 million was used to service and repay government domestic loan bonds denominated in foreign currency, USD 72.5 million - to fulfill obligations to the IMF, the rest of the funds - to fulfill other government obligations in foreign currency.

To smooth out fluctuations towards depreciation, the National Bank carried out several interventions to sell foreign currency in the amount of USD 87 million.

At the same time, on certain days, when there was an excess supply of foreign currency in the market, the National Bank acquired USD 41.0 million.

The last three weeks of November, the foreign exchange market was balanced, so the NBU did not come out with interventions.

The current volume of international reserves covers 4.3 months of future imports, which is sufficient to meet the obligations of Ukraine and the current operations of the government and the National Bank.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in 2019, international reserves increased by 22% and as of January 1, 2020, they amounted to USD 25.3 billion (in equivalent).

In late 2018, Ukraine's international reserves increased by 10.6% and as of January 1, 2019 amounted to USD 20.8 billion (in equivalent).