Ukraine issues UAH 15 bln in state bonds of quasi-fiscal support

Ukraine’s Finance Ministry has issued UAH 15.3 bln in state bonds, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on Dec. 8, with commercial banks buying UAH 10.4 bln. At the same time, only UAH 0.6 bln from the bonds has been issued for budget deficit financing. The rest has been allocated for quasi-fiscal needs.

Alexander Paraschiy: So far this year, MinFin has issued UAH 104.4 bln in state bonds for quasi-fiscal needs. The major part of the funds has been used to support Naftogaz (UAH 96.6 bln), in addition to UAH 6.8 bln in VAT bonds and UAH 1 bln earmarked to support the deposit guarantee fund.

For the year’s remainder, Ukrainian authorities are allowed by the IMF loan agreement to issue another UAH 24 bln in bonds, including UAH 9 bln for the deposit guarantee fund, UAH 5.2 bln for bank refunding, and UAH 9.8 bln in VAT bonds. By the end of December, the quasi-fiscal funding might reach UAH 128.5 bln, which is 8.4% of GDP.