“As of 1 March 2013, the amount of international reserves was equivalent to USD 24.710 billion, having increased by USD 58 million over the month,” said Director of the NBU Department of Foreign Exchange Reserve Management and Open Market Transactions Mr. Oleksandr Dubykhvist.

He explained that the scheduled repayment of IMF loan in an amount equivalent to USD 998 million and public debt service payments had exerted significant downward pressure on the amount of international reserves in February.

According to Mr. Oleksandr Dubykhvist, an increase in the international reserves was mainly driven by the proceeds from the Ukrainian Government’s placements of external and internal foreign currency-denominated debt securities.