Ukraine's govt debt rises 4.55% in January

MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - The total public debt of Ukraine increased 4.55% in January 2023, Ukrainian media reported, citing data from the Finance Ministry.

The total public debt in dollars increased by $5.06 billion to $116.44 billion, or by UAH 185.35 billion to UAH 4.26 trillion.

Direct public debt increased 4.7% to $106.4 billion in January, or to UAH 3.89 trillion, particularly external direct debt increased by $3.97 billion to $67.56 billion, and internal direct debt rose by UAH 30.77 billion up to UAH 1.42 trillion, or $38.84 billion.

The total external public debt of Ukraine increased by 5.9% in January, or by $4.23 billion to $75.63 billion, and the total domestic public debt rose 2.1%, or by UAH 30.6 billion to UAH 1.49 trillion.

"The main reason for the increase in debt was the attraction of the first tranche of macro-financial assistance from the EU," Daniil Getmantsev, head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, wrote on his Telegram channel.

Meantime, Getmantsev noted that despite the growth of public debt, the situation is controllable. He pointed out that payments on Eurobonds, GDP warrants, debts of state corporations guaranteed by the state have been restructured. As a result, the burden on the budget has been noticeably reduced. For the first two months of 2023, UAH 12.6 billion were allocated to service the public debt at 100% of the plan, which is 60% less than in the same period last year. The share of expenditures on public debt service in the expenditures of the general fund of the state budget [the state budget of Ukraine includes a general fund, where taxes and fees are directed and from which the main expenses are financed; and a special fund, the funds of which are earmarked] decreased to 3.1% over this period, and 6.5% at the end of 2022.

According to the Finance Ministry, the share of liabilities increased to 24.58% in euros in the total structure of public debt at the end of January and to 1.26% Canadian dollars, while it decreased to 28.68% in US dollars, 12 .56% in special drawing rights, 0.88% in yen, 0.02% in British pounds, and 32.02% in UAH.

The official exchange rate as on March 3, 2023, is UAH 36.57/$1.