Preliminary data suggests that as of 1 March 2016, Ukraine's international reserves amounted to the equivalent of USD 13.538 billion. Over the first two months of the year, Ukraine’s international reserves have increased by 1.8% or USD 238 million. In February 2016, Ukraine’s international reserves increased 2.4-fold y-o-y.
The funds raised from the placement of domestic sovereign bonds denominated in US dollars contributed to the increase in Ukraine’s international reserves. The Government of Ukraine raised USD 431.3 million.
Ukraine’s reserves expanded despite the need for the NBU to conduct FX auctions to smooth exchange rate fluctuations of the hryvnia. To this end, the NBU purchased USD 22.2 million and sold USD 181.0 million during the month. In February, the NBU's net FX sales in the interbank market amounted to USD 158.8 million.
At the same time, the NBU paid back USD 150.1 million (balance) under swap transactions.
In February, the Government made payments related to the repayment and service of public and publicly guaranteed debt denominated in foreign currency. In February, Ukraine paid back USD 63.2 million, including USD 19.2 million in principal and interest payments on government securities. Additionally, the Ukrainian Government and the NBU paid a USD 54.2 million installment due to the IMF.
Currently, the amount of Ukraine’s international reserves is sufficient to cover 3.4 months of future imports and enable the Government and the NBU to settle their foreign debt obligations and current operations.