Ukraine's international reserves expand by 1.1% in July – NBU

"In July, the NBU bought $163 million on the interbank market," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. He also confirmed that the NBU on August 4 received $1.7 billion in a second tranche under the Extended Fund Facility program with the International Monetary Fund. As reported, the EFF projects that Ukraine's gross international reserves will grow to $18.3 billion by the end of the current year and to $22.3 billion next year, which will cover 3.7 and 4.2 months of imports respectively. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, the reserves are expected to grow to $28.5 billion, $35.2 billion and $38.4 billion respectively, with their size being fixed at around 5.4 months of imports. On August 4, NBU Governor Valeriya Gontareva announced her forecast for the international reserves, under which they will amount to "almost $18 billion" by the end of 2015.