Ukraine state debt slides 1% m/m in July

Ukraine’s state debt slid 0.8% m/m to USD 75.7 bln in
July, the Finance Ministry reported on Aug. 28. Domestic debt declined 2.5% m/m
to USD 27.9 bln, while foreign debt was practically flat USD 37.5 bln. In UAH
terms, the state debt increased 1.4%, with foreign debt rising 2.2% to UAH
1,004 bln and domestic debt sliding 0.4% to UAH 747 bln. In July, state debt
amounted to UAH 68% of Ukraine’s 2017 GDP.

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: The
increase of foreign debt in UAH terms was due to a 0.8% hryvnia depreciation
during July. Domestic debt in UAH terms did not change significantly, as the
amount of local bonds redeemed during the month was close to the amount of
newly issued local debt.

For 2018, we project that the state debt will rise
to USD 78.2 bln (67.6% of GDP), assuming IMF cooperation is maintained.