Page 25 - UKRRptMar20

5.2​ Balance of payments, current account
Ukraine’s current account (C/A) jumped into the black in December to end the year at $2.38bn in surplus after ending 2018 with a deficit of $4.4bn ​after Russia’s Gazprom unexpectedly agreed to pay a $2.6bn fine awarded to Ukraine by the Stockholm Arbitration court.
Without Gazprom’s ​compensation to Naftogaz paid in December​, the C/A deficit would have amounted to $4.0bn (2.6% of GDP), according to the NBU’s estimate.
The trade deficit enlarged to $12.1bn in 2019 from $11.4bn in 2018. In particular, goods imports increased 7.1% y/y (vs. 13.6% y/y in 2018), outpacing goods exports, which rose 6.4% y/y (vs. 9.2% y/y growth in 2018). Meanwhile, the surplus of primary income balance increased to $4.8bn from $3.3bn.
With Gazprom’s compensation, the surplus of secondary income balance jumped to $6.3bn (from $3.7bn in 2018), while the adjusted indicator amounted to $3.4bn​ ​In December alone, the C/A surplus swelled to $2.4bn. The trade deficit amounted to 1.4bn, increasing from $1.2bn in November. Goods exports rose 1.4% y/y in December to $3.8bn, improving from a 3.1% y/y decline in November. Food exports surged 16.0% y/y (vs. 0.8% y/y growth in November). Meanwhile, the decline in exports of metals deepened to 26.9% (from a 15% y/y drop in November).
Meanwhile, December’s goods imports accelerated 7.9% y/y to $5.2bn (from a 1.5% y/y decline in November). Food imports surged 31.7% y/y (vs. 18.9% y/y in November). Machinery imports rose 15.5% y/y (from 14.3% y/y growth in
25​ UKRAINE Country Report​ March 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com