Ukraine state debt almost unchanged in June
29 July 2016
Ukraine’s state debt inched up 0.3% to USD 67.1 bln from USD 66.9 bln in the prior month, the Finance Ministry reported on July 28. Local debt increased 0.9% (or USD 194 mln to USD 23.0 bln), mainly due to the hryvnia strengthening to UAH 24.85/USD in June from UAH 25.17/USD in May. External debt inched up 0.1%, or USD 25 mln, staying almost unchanged at USD 44.15 bln. In UAH terms, state debt decreased 0.9%. The share of external debt slightly decreased to 65.8% in June from 66.0% in the prior month.
Alexander Paraschiy: Delayed funding from the IMF is the only reason why the state debt remains unchanged. The delayed IMF tranche also blocked other loans, which include USD 1.0 bln in Eurobonds under U.S. guarantees and a EUR 1.2 bln loan from the EU. . In light of many IMF demands being fulfilled and supportive statements from its officials, we expect the next tranche to arrive in September- October. Against this backdrop, we still expect the state debt will rise to USD 70.6 bln (83.6% of GDP) by the year end.
