KIEV, March 2 – A fall in foreign payments on earlier taken loans promoted a fall in the foreign debt of private sector borrowers in Ukraine in January, by $1.5 billion or 1.6%, to $87.7 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.

"The debt of the banking system fell most of all – by $1.3 billion or 3.2%, to $38.4 billion. In the structure of the banking system's debt, the share of short-term debts was 22.6%, to $8.7 billion," reads the report, referring to tentative data.