6 Apr 2022 16:54

Ukraine's consolidated balance of payments has $1.5 bln deficit in Feb

KYIV. April 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The deficit of Ukraine's consolidated balance of payments in February 2022 stood at $1.5 billion, while in February 2021 the deficit amounted to $28 million, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on its website.

The surplus of the current account of the balance of payments reached $383 million in February 2022, while in February 2021 the surplus amounted to $134 million.

The NBU also said that the commodity exports and imports rose by 31.1% and 30.7%, respectively, in February.

The main factor in the growth of exports up to $5.4 billion was a 40.7% increase of food products due to the rise in grain exports (1.8 times). There was also an increase of the exports of ferrous and non-ferrous metals by 31%, chemical products by 42.4%, timber and wooden products by 14.4%, industrial products by 1.5 times, and engineering products by 1.5 times.

At the same time, the exports of mineral products (including ores) decreased by 15.8% in February.

The volume of goods imports over the period rose to $6 billion, including energy imports by 1.6 times due to the importation of petroleum products and coal, and non-energy imports by 24.2%. In particular, the imports of industrial products increased by 1.1%, machine-building products by 22.4%, food by 3%, ferrous and nonferrous metals by 31.8%, chemicals by 27.5%, and timber and wooden products by 28.8%.

Additionally, according to the estimates of the National Bank, the surplus of trade in services reached $453 million in February 2022 from $298 million in February 2021.

The surplus of the balance of primary incomes amounted to $83 million in February 2022 (the deficit stood at $5 million in February 2021). Payroll receipts were down 4%, and investment income payments were down 14.9%.

The net lending to the outside world (the combined balance of the current account and capital account) totaled $386 million in February last year against $136 million in February of the previous year.

The financial account net outflow amounted to $1.9 billion (the net outflow was $164 million in February 2021), which was due to the outflow of funds from private sector operations.

The net outflow for public sector transactions stood at $476 million (the net outflow was $155 million in February 2021). The net payments to non-residents on government bonds amounted to $240 million, on Eurobonds - $112 million, and on loans to international partners - $108 million.

The NBU estimated the net inflow of foreign direct investments at $57 million, compared to $153 million in February of the previous year.

According to the regulator, the net decrease in the external position of the country's banking system on operations with portfolio and other investments amounted to $210 million. This was caused by a $255 million decrease in the external position on the currency and deposits item.

The real sector external position (excluding foreign direct investment) surged by $1.9 billion in February 2022, driven by a $776 million increase in net external debt on trade loans, a $973 million increase in foreign currency cash outside banks, and a $26 million net increase in debt on loans and borrowings.

As of March 1, 2022, international reserves stood at $27.6 billion, which provides 3.8 months of import financing.

Ukraine's consolidated balance of payments in 2021 was reported with a surplus of $487 million, which is four times less than in 2020. The deficit of the current account of the balance of payments amounted to $2.1 billion, while in 2020 there was a surplus of $5.3 billion.