Ukraine had an equivalent of USD 31,614.5 million in international reserves as of 1 September 2021, early data show. This is the highest level of these reserves in the past nine years. The last time that this mark was surpassed was in September 2012.
International reserves increased by 9.2% in August, primarily due to the receipt of SDR 1,928.2 million from the IMF as SDR allocation.
International reserves in August were also affected by the following:
- NBU transactions in the interbank FX market. FX supply in the interbank FX market outweighed demand for most of August, allowing the NBU to buy USD 368.8 million. At the same time, the regulator sold USD 20.5 million during the month to smooth out excessive exchange rate fluctuations. Overall in August, the NBU made net FX purchases of USD 348.3 million in the interbank FX market.
- transactions related to public debt management. The government received an equivalent of USD 8.8 million in FX inflows. At the same time, the government spent an equivalent of USD 188 million to service and repay FX public debt. That includes USD 33.7 million in Eurobond repayments, and an equivalent of USD 18.2 million to redeem and service domestic government debt securities. The rest of the funds went to meet the government’s other FX commitments. The government and the NBU repaid an equivalent of USD 204.3 million to the IMF in August.
- revaluation of financial instruments (due to changes in their market value and exchange rate fluctuations). These instruments declined in value by an equivalent of USD 31.6 million last month. International reserves now cover 4.4 months of future imports, sufficient for Ukraine to meet its commitments, and for the government and the NBU to make their current transactions.
Data on international reserves and FX liquidity are compiled and published on a monthly basis:
- for preliminary data, no later than on the seventh day after the reporting month ends
- for revised data, no later than on the 21st day after the reporting month ends.
Revised data are available here.