Ukraine's Gross Foreign Debt up 55% yoy in 2007

According to the National Bank of Ukraine, gross external debt surged 55% yoy to USD 84.5 bln in 2007. Ninety percent of the growth came from the private sector, as banks attracted relatively cheap loans in foreign currency to finance the ongoing credit boom and other sectors tapped international debt to fund investments, mostly into modernization. Corporate debt jumped 70% yoy and totaled USD 65.9 bln or 46.9% of GDP (USD 31.0 bln from the banking sector and USD 34.9 bln from other sectors). Public debt rose a modest 9.9% yoy to USD 15.1 bln. Andrii Parkhomenko: We expect corporate debt to rise a more moderate 37% yoy to around USD 90 bln in 2008 due to the global credit crunch. We forecast public debt to grow 11% yoy this year to USD 19.5 bln, while public debt to GDP should fall to 10.5%. The reported figures slightly vary from the ones published by the State Statistics Committee as the two authorities’ calculation methods and data sources differ.