Ukraine’s total state direct and government-guaranteed debt in April grew by 2.7%, or by UAH 21.12 billion ($1.95 billion), to UAH 1.973 trillion ($74.31 billion), Ukraine’s Finance Ministry reported on its website.
Since the beginning of the year the total state (direct) and government-guaranteed debt in dollar terms has increased by 4.7%.
According to the report, the state debt in April decreased by 0.18%, to UAH 1.673 trillion UAH ($63.01 billion), while the external state debt rose by 0.45%, to UAH 980.94 billion ($36.94 billion).
At the same time, the government-guaranteed debt in April increased significantly – by 8.82%, to UAH 300.04 billion ($11.3 billion), in particular external debt by 9.43%, to UAH 280.57 billion ($11.3 billion).
The ministry also specifies that the principal amount of the state debt is denominated in U.S. dollars – 42.28%, another 30.82% in the hryvnia, 19.3% in special drawing rights and 6.44% in euros. In addition, less than 1% of the state debt is denominated in Canadian dollars and yen.
The official hryvnia to U.S. dollar exchange rate, according to which the Finance Ministry calculates the debt, in February strengthened to UAH 26.55 per $1 from UAH 26.98/$1, or by 1.57%, while at the end of 2016 it stood at UAH 27.191 per $1. (Interfax-Ukraine/Business World Magazine)