Forex: Ukraine’s reserves drop to $40.4 bln as of Sept 1 – central bank

UKRAINE, Sept. 6 – Ukraine’s foreign currency reserves slipped to nearly $40.4 bln as of Sept. 1, the central bank said on Wednesday.

It said in a statement that the reserves were down by 3.2% over the past month due to interventions on the foreign exchange market to sell hard currency. The central bank sold $2.453 billion on the forex market in August.

According to Reuters, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the central bank introduced various measures to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability. It fixed the hryvnia currency at the official peg of 36.57 to the dollar and intervened regularly to reduce the gap between the official and cash market rate.

In August, Ukraine also paid $306.5 million to service its foreign debts, including $169.1 million to the World Bank and $63.7 million on its hard currency-denominated bonds. It also paid $379.6 million to the International Monetary Fund, the central bank said.

It also said Ukraine had received about $1.7 billion in foreign aid from the European Union.

Ukraine depends heavily on Western financial aid to finance its humanitarian and social spending. It has received $29.707 billion so far this year.