Ukraine state debt rises 3% in September on external loans
26 October 2016
Ukraine’s state debt increased 3.0% to USD 68.6 bln from USD 66.6 bln in the prior month, the Finance Ministry reported on Oct. 26. A USD 1.0 bln wire from the IMF and a USD 1.0 bln Eurobond placement under U.S. government guarantees were the sources of rising debt. The share of external debt increased to 67.6% from 66.4% in the prior month.
Alexander Paraschiy: We do not expect active borrowings this year anymore. The next IMF wire does not look realistic for 2016 given that structural benchmarks for the next review (like a draft law on agricultural land sales) have not been even approached properly. There is still a chance to receive a EUR 0.6 bln loan from the European Union. However, the EU made the loan conditional on lifting a ban on timber exports, which requires some extra efforts from parliament. Assuming EU funds will arrive in the upcoming months, we expect state debt will reach USD 69.5 bln, which is 80.8% of GDP.
