Ukraine state debt declines 0.4% in April

Ukraine’s state debt decreased 0.4%, or USD 0.3 bln,
to USD 77.1 bln in April owing to the decline of foreign debt, the Finance
Ministry reported on May 25. Domestic debt increased 0.6%, while foreign debt
fell 0.7%.

In UAH terms, debt dropped 1.6%, or UAH 32.6 bln, to
UAH 2,021 bln. State debt was 68.7% of Ukraine’s 2017 GDP.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: The growth
of domestic debt in April was due to the placement of local bonds for UAH 5.3
bln (including local Eurobonds for EUR 83.6 mln), which exceeded the redemption
of local bonds by UAH 1.9 bln. The decline in foreign debt was due to debt
repayments to IFIs and foreign governments. A higher decline of the debt in UAH
terms was caused by a 0.7% local currency depreciation during the month.

For 2018, we project state debt will rise to USD
78.6 bln (69.8% of GDP), assuming IMF cooperation is maintained.