A new record: international reserves of Ukraine in 2024 increased to $43.8 billion

In 2024, international reserves of Ukraine increased by 18%, to the level of $43.763 billion, which is a new historical record. By information According to the NBU, this growth was due to significant receipts from international partners, which exceeded the net sale of currency by the National Bank and the country’s payments on foreign currency debts. 

During March, Ukraine received the highest volume of budget funding from international partners during the entire war period. During this period, the government’s currency accounts at the National Bank received $9,316.1 million. The total amount consists of the following sources:

• $4,901.0 million from the European Union as the first tranche under the transitional financing program under the Ukraine Facility;
• $1,626.1 million from the World Bank under the guarantees of Japan and Great Britain;
• $1,471.5 million from Canada;
• $880.7 million from the International Monetary Fund;
• $286.2 million from the placement of foreign currency bonds of the domestic state loan (OVDP);
• $118.2 million in grant funds from Japan through the World Bank;
• $32.4 million in grant funds from Serbia.

According to the Ministry of Finance, since the beginning of 2024, total external financing from partners amounts to $10.1 billion, and since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has already received $83.7 billion.

Regarding payments for maintenance and repayment of the state debt

The National Bank of Ukraine reports that $363.5 million was paid for servicing and repaying the state debt in foreign currency, of which:

• $275.4 million – for servicing and repayment of foreign currency bonds;
• $52.7 million – for servicing and repaying the debt to the World Bank;
• $35.4 million – payment of debt to other international creditors.

At the same time, Ukraine paid $728.5 million to the International Monetary Fund.

The reserves of the National Bank were affected by operations on the foreign exchange market – the bank sold $1,813.6 million and bought back $25.9 million to the reserves, which is consistent with the balance sheet data. This means that the NBU’s net sale of currency amounted to $1,787.7 million.

Also, the dynamics of reserves in March were affected by the revaluation of financial instruments, which led to an increase in their value by $266.3 million.

In 2024, Ukraine received only 10% of the planned financial assistance from partners, while it did not receive 80% of the necessary funding from partners, which was planned for almost a year within the Rammstein format by more than 50 countries of the world.

For reference

Data on the volume of Ukraine’s international reserves, public debt management operations, as well as revaluation of financial instruments are given in equivalent to the US dollar.