Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Yuriy Geletiy, announced this, as reported by RBK-Ukraine referring to a briefing on Youtube. This information is also provided by Kontrakty.UA.
Geletiy noted that a seasonal factor was observed in December – a significant increase in budget expenditures due to international assistance.
"We understand that the volume of foreign currency interventions correlates with the volume of international aid and budget expenditures," he stated.
According to him, the state received 9.5 billion dollars in December. Consequently, the government had the opportunity to manage these funds and allocate them for expenditures.
"Unfortunately, in wartime conditions, we are heavily dependent on the import of goods and services. Therefore, the lion's share of these funds was converted into hryvnias, reaching the fund managers, and was subsequently spent on imported goods and services," the Deputy Head of the NBU declared.
Geletiy reported that the NBU's interventions in December amounted to 5.3 billion dollars. "This is a significant figure, but considering the volume of our reserves, this amount is not extraordinary for us. However, from the perspective of ensuring the functioning of our state, international assistance has indeed allowed these budget expenditures to be executed," he remarked.
The Deputy Head of the NBU posed a rhetorical question about whether it would have been better if the assistance had been smaller and the NBU's interventions had also been less.
It is worth noting that the National Bank of Ukraine sold 5.284 billion dollars on the interbank foreign exchange market in December 2024. This is the highest monthly volume in history. Overall, in 2024, the NBU sold 34.822 billion dollars on the interbank market, which is 6.212 billion dollars more than in 2023.