Ukrainian gold and foreign exchange reserves hit 10-year low - Bloomberg
New York - Kyiv, January 12 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - Ukraine's gold and foreign exchange reserves have reached their lowest level in the last 10 years. The main reason is that the National Bank uses its reserves to pay Russia for gas, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
Subscribe to the news "PolitNavigator - Kyiv" in Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
Bloomberg Businessweek writes: “Gold and foreign exchange reserves decreased in December from almost 10 billion dollars to 7,5 billion today. This is the lowest level since 2005.”
Ukraine's reserves, the publication believes, have been steadily depleting for 9 months of the war in the eastern regions.
The National Bank of Ukraine helped the state energy company NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine return $1,65 billion in gas debt to Russia on December 23. The bank also allocated $378 million for prepayment for gas imports in January.
Ukraine, Bloomberg recalls, needs an additional $15 billion in addition to the $17 billion loan program promised by the IMF. At the moment, the Ukrainian government is trying to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund on a new tranche of the approved loan program.
Standard & Poor's downgraded Ukraine's credit rating to CCC-, or pre-default, last month. S&P said that "as a default, default may be imminent in the next few months unless circumstances change, such as if additional international financial support is not received."
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.