Ukraine gross reserves jump 4% in April

Ukraine’s gross international reserves increased by
USD 0.97 bln, or 3.6%, to USD 28.0 bln in April 2021, the National Bank of
Ukraine (NBU) reported on May 7. The growth was mostly due to new government
foreign borrowing.

In April, the government receipts in foreign currency
amounted to USD 1.4 bln. In particular, USD 1.25 bln came from the placement of international government bonds.
In addition, the receipts from placements of local Eurobonds amounted to USD
121 mln. At the same time, the government outlays in foreign currency amounted
to USD 0.6 bln. In particular, they included USD 392 mln spent on the
redemption and servicing of local Eurobonds as well as USD 78 mln on the
servicing of international Eurobonds.

The NBU also reported a USD 200 mln increase in the
value of its securities portfolio.

As of May 1, Ukraine’s gross reserves amounted to 4.3
months of imports, the NBU said.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: In May, major government outlays in foreign currency will include the
redemption of local Eurobonds for EUR 428 mln as well as the payment to the IMF
of around USD 64 mln. We don’t expect that the receipts from the placement of
new local Eurobonds will compensate these outlays in full. The gross
international reserves might lose around 0.5% in May.