OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2009. According to the NBU data, the Current Account (CA) deficit amounted to USD 240mn in November 2009 vs. the CA surplus of USD 99mn in October. This was mainly due to a slight reduction in the exports of goods down to USD 4.0bn (5%, m/m) and a 1.4%, m/m increase of imports to USD 4.5bn in November. At the same time, the Financial Account (FA) deficit has been reduced by around 50%, m/m to USD 401mn in November. As a result, in 11M09, the CA deficit stood at USD 1.3bn, the FA deficit was equal to USD 12.3bn, which resulted in a USD 13.5bn Balance of Payments (BoP) deficit.

Millennium Capital accounts for the exports reduction in November by a slight monthly drop in the industrial output (down 1.9%, m/m). Meanwhile, an increase in the amount of imported gas (11.6%, m/m) in November was among the key factors of the imports growth. At the same time, low debt redemption in November led to a reduction in the FA deficit. Millennium Capital expects CA and BoP deficits at USD 1bn and USD 14bn in 2009, respectively.