Ukraine's international reserves fall 3.1% to $42.4 bln in April

MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - Ukraine's international reserves fell $1.4 billion or 3.1% to $42.4 billion in April compared with March, according to a preliminary estimate by the National Bank of Ukraine.

"Such dynamics were driven by the NBU's FX interventions aimed at preserving sustainability of the exchange rate and by Ukraine's FX debt repayments, which were partially offset by funding from international partners," Ukrainian media reported, quoting an NBU statement.

The NBU sold $2.3 billion on the currency market and bought $30.9 million, so net FX sales amounted to $2.26 billion, which was an increase compared to March.

"This can be attributed to a rise in demand on the FX market, which was primarily driven by a pickup in government spending as regular inflows of external aid resumed from mid-March," the NBU said.

Inflows to the government's accounts and the servicing and repayment of public debt also influenced the reserves. FX accounts received $1.65 billion while $884.5 million was allocated for debt servicing and repayment. Ukraine also paid $92.6 million to the International Monetary Fund.

Revaluation of financial instruments added $224.3 million to the reserves.

International reserves are now covering 5.5 months of future imports," the NBU said.

Ukraine's international reserves grew $6.7 billion or 18% to a new all-time high of $43.763 billion in March thanks to record inflows of over $9 billion from international partners.

The NBU on April 25 raised its forecast for international reserves at the end of 2024 to $43.4 billion from $40.4 billion and at the end of 2025 to $44.3 billion from $42.1 billion.