Ukraine had USD 40,507.9 billion in international reserves as of 1 January 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine said, quoting preliminary data. In December 2023, they increased by 4.4% compared to November thanks to FX inflows from international partners, which exceeded the NBU’s net FX sales and Ukraine’s FX debt repayments.
In general, several factors determined the dynamics of international reserves in December 2023:
First, inflows to the government’s accounts and the servicing and repayment of public debt A total of USD 5,546.4 million came into the government's FX accounts with the NBU. That includes:
· USD 2,465.9 million through the World Bank's trust fund, in particular from Japan, Norway, and the United States
· USD 1,810.9 million in macrofinancial support from the EU
· USD 881.6 million from the IMF
· USD 332.0 million from the placement of FX domestic government debt securities
· USD 56.0 million from other international partners.
A total of USD 708.2 million was spent on servicing and repaying the FX public debt.
Second, the NBU’s transactions in the Ukrainian FX market.
The NBU sold USD 3,559.1 million on the FX market and bought USD 6.1 million to replenish international reserves, according to balance sheet data. The NBU thus made USD 3,553.0 million in net FX sales in December, 1.4 times the level of November. The last month’s increase in the NBU’s FX sales was primarily due to the seasonal factor of higher budgetary spending at the end of the year.
Third, the revaluation of financial instruments (due to changes in their market value and exchange rate fluctuations)
Financial instruments increased in value by USD 426.7 million in December due to revaluation.
In 2023, Ukraine's international reserves increased by 42%.
Last year, Ukraine received an unprecedented volume of international financial assistance. A total of around USD 42.7 billion was credited to the government's FX accounts with the NBU. The largest amounts of financial assistance came from the European Union (USD 19.7 billion), through the World Bank’s trust fund, in particular from the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Norway, and other countries (USD 16.4 billion), the International Monetary Fund (USD 4.5 billion), and Canada (USD 1.8 billion). International assistance, together with USD 4.5 billion from placement of FX domestic government debt securities, made it possible to:
offset the NBU’s net FX sales (USD 28.6 billion). Before the transition to managed flexibility of the exchange rate, the NBU had been selling FX to sustain the fixed official exchange rate of the hryvnia, and after the transition, the NBU has been selling FX to compensate for the structural deficit of foreign currency and smooth out excessive exchange rate fluctuations.
finance Ukraine’s payments to service and repay Ukraine’s FX public debt (USD 9.0 billion)
increase international reserves to the level that is sufficient to continue to maintain exchange rate sustainability.
International reserves are now covering 5.4 months of future imports.