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In 4M21, the deficit of Ukraine’s balance of payments amounted to $166mn (vs. a surplus of $577mn in 4M20).
“Goods imports in money terms in April were lower than the March peak. However, the demand for imports is recovering quickly. This trend is not intimidating as long as the price situation at the external markets for Ukraine’s export remains favorable. However, if the latter changes, we might see a faster enlargement of the goods trade balance resulting in worse C/A balance than we currently expect,” Akhtyrko added. “According to our forecast, the surplus of Ukraine’s C/A will amount to $0.5bn (vs. a $6.2bn surplus in 2020).”
5.2.3 Gross international reserves
Ukraine’s gross international reserves increased by $0.97bn, or 3.6%, to $28.0bn in April, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has reported. The growth was mostly due to new government foreign borrowing.
In April, government receipts in foreign currency amounted to $1.4bn. In particular, $1.25bn came from the placement of international government bonds. In addition, the receipts from placements of local Eurobonds amounted to $121mn. At the same time, the government outlays in foreign currency amounted to $0.6bn. In particular, they included $392mn spent on the redemption and servicing of local Eurobonds as well as $78mn on the servicing of international Eurobonds.
The NBU also reported a $200mn increase in the value of its securities portfolio.
36 UKRAINE Country Report XXXX 2018 www.intellinews.com