International reserves of Ukraine amounted to 28.9 billion dollars. According to the results of February, the United States decreased by 3.5% over the month, the National Bank of Ukraine reported.
"As of March 1, 2023, Ukraine's international reserves, according to preliminary data, amounted to USD 28,864.6 million. In February, they decreased by 3.5% as a result of the National Bank's interventions to sell foreign currency to cover the difference between supply and demand on the foreign exchange market. market of Ukraine, which were largely compensated by foreign currency investments in favor of the government," the NBU noted.
As reported, in February 2023, the NBU sold 2,479.7 million dollars on the foreign exchange market. and bought into reserves - 27.7 million dollars.
"Therefore, the net sale of currency by the NBU last month decreased compared to January 2023 by $609 million to $2,452.0 million," the National Bank noted.
They noted that "the decrease in the volume of the NBU's currency interventions compared to the previous month is due both to the final exhaustion of pressure from additional budget expenditures at the end of 2022, and to the stabilization of exchange rate expectations thanks to the consistent monetary policy of the NBU and the refusal of direct financing of the def02 budget."
Also, according to the NBU, 2,395.8 million dollars were received in the government's foreign currency accounts during the month. At the same time, the government of Ukraine paid 570.4 million dollars in foreign currency for servicing and repayment of the national debt.
"The current volume of international reserves provides financing for 3.7 months of future imports," the NBU noted.
The state budget deficit for January-February 2023 reached UAH 161.1 billion, including UAH 172.1 billion from the general fund.