Ukraine's international reserves decrease by 8% in September - NBU

As of October 1, Ukraine's international reserves stood at USD 38.9 billion, a decrease of 8.1% from the previous month.

That is according to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Ukrinform reports.

“As of 1 October 2024, Ukraine had USD 38,898.6 million in international reserves, early data show. In September, they declined by 8.1%. Such dynamics were driven by the NBU’s FX interventions to compensate for the structural deficit of foreign currency and smooth out exchange rate fluctuations, as well as by Ukraine’s FX debt repayments,” the report says.

Overall, Ukraine’s international reserves dynamics in September 2024 were driven by some factors.

First, the NBU’s transactions in the Ukrainian FX market. The NBU sold USD 3,213.8 million on the FX market and bought USD 0.6 million to replenish international reserves, according to balance sheet data. As a result, the NBU was a net seller of USD 3,213.2 million in foreign currency in September.

Second, inflows to the government’s accounts and the servicing and repayment of public debt. A total of USD 674.7 million came into the government's FX accounts with the NBU. This amount included USD 603.6 million from the issuing of FX domestic government debt securities, USD 60.0 million from the World Bank, USD 11.1 million from the Council of Europe Development Bank.

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The NBU noted that a total of USD 552.4 million was spent on servicing and repaying the FX public debt. This included USD 456.3 million to service and redeem FX domestic government debt securities, USD 52.1 million to service and repay the debt to the World Bank, USD 44.0 million to meet the country’s liabilities to other international creditors.

In addition, Ukraine repaid USD 729.8 million to the International Monetary Fund.

Third, in September, financial instruments increased in value by USD 381.8 million due to revaluation.

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukraine's international reserves grew by 13.7% in August, reaching a total of $42.3 billion as of September 1.

Photo: NBU