Page 37 - UKRRptSept19

5.2.3 Gross international reserves
Ukraine's forex reserves in July 2019 grew by $1.2bn or 5.8%, to $21.84bn
thanks to net purchase of currency on the interbank currency market by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), according to preliminary data posted on the central bank's website.
According to the report, the favorable situation in the foreign exchange market, which has arisen in connection with an increase in nonresidents' interest in hryvnia government domestic loan bonds, as well as the preservation of a positive pricing environment for Ukrainian exports and moderate volumes of imports, led to a significant excess of foreign currency supply over demand.
In July, the NBU replenished international reserves through interventions in the interbank foreign exchange market for a total of $1.271bn. In particular, the NBU bought $405.2mn through interventions at the best exchange rate and $865.9mn at a fixed rate. The NBU did not carry out any interventions on the sale of currency last month.
In July, proceeds from the placement of government bonds denominated in foreign currency amounted to $1.006bn. These revenues almost completely offset government payments for servicing and paying off state and state- guaranteed debt in foreign currency. Last month, such expenses amounted to $1.019bn, of, which $941.3mn was spent on servicing and repaying foreign currency government bonds, and the rest was spent on fulfilling other obligations to foreign creditors and international financial institutions.
The size of international reserves was also influenced by a decrease in the value of financial tools (changes in market value, hryvnia to foreign currencies) by $56.6mn, the NBU reported.
As of August 1, 2019, the volume of forex reserves covers 3.4 months of Current External Payments (CXP), which is sufficient to fulfill Ukraine's obligations and current operations of the government and the NBU.
Trading places: since 2015, remittances from Russia have almost dropped in half, while remittances from Poland have tripled, according to National Bank of Ukraine data. Rivalling Russia for second place, remittances from the Czech Republic have increased 5-fold since 2015, to almost $250 million in the first quarter of 2019.
37 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com