Ukraine state debt increases 0.8% in March

Ukraine’s state debt increased 0.78%, or USD 0.6 bln,
to USD 77.4 bln in March, the Finance Ministry reported on Apr. 26. In UAH
terms, the debt dropped 0.74%, or UAH 15 bln, to UAH 2,054 bln. State debt was
68.8% of Ukraine’s 2017 GDP.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: Domestic
debt in USD terms increased 2.3% while foreign debt stayed almost flat.
Meanwhile, the growth of domestic debt in USD terms was mostly due to a 3.2%
appreciation of the local currency during the month. The amount of local bonds
placed during March exceeded the amount of redeemed bonds by UAH 5.8 bln,
contributing a 0.78% increase in UAH-denominated domestic debt.

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