Ukraine's int'l reserves grow 5% in Jan to $29.9 bln - National Bank

MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Ukraine's international reserves grew 5% or $1.4 billion during January 2023 to $29.922 billion as of February 1, due to foreign exchange received from international partners, which exceeded the National Bank's foreign currency sales interventions to support the fixed exchange rate.

"Ukraine had $29.922 billion of international reserves as of February 1, 2023, according to preliminary data. The international reserves grew by 5% in January owing to inflows from international partners that compensated for the net FX sales by the NBU to cover the gap between supply and demand on the Ukrainian currency FX market," Ukrainian media outlets quoted the National Bank of Ukraine as saying.

The NBU said public debt operations affected the reserves in January. FX inflows to the government's accounts with the NBU amounted to $4.328 billion, including $356 million from the EU, $1 billion from the United States through a World Bank trust fund; and $71.6 million from the placement domestic government securities.

The government spent $65 million on servicing and repaying the FX public debt, including $59 million to service and redeem the debt to the World Bank, and $5 million to repay domestic government debt securities.

The reserves were also affected by the NBU's inter-bank market transactions. The NBU sold $3.09 billion and bought $28.5 million in the currency market for the reserves, so net interventions were $3.061 billion.

The upwards revaluation of financial instruments by $225.7 million was another factor influencing the reserves.

The NBU said the reserves were currently sufficient to finance 3.7 months of imports, which is sufficient for Ukraine to meet its commitments, and for the government and the NBU to carry out their current transactions.

Ukraine's international reserves were $28.491 billion at the start of 2023. Net international reserves were $18.318 billion.