Ukraine announced the arrival of an IMF delegation

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Ukraine to meet with representatives of the country’s authorities and other key partners. The Ukrainian publication “Economic Truth” writes about this with reference to the IMF permanent representative in Ukraine Vahram Stepanyan.

The delegation is headed by Deputy Director of the IMF’s European Department Uma Ramakrishnan.

“The high-level dialogue will focus on promising activities and challenges in the context of the Extended Financing Facility (EFF), which Ukraine is implementing with the support of the IMF,” Stepanyan said in a statement.

On September 25, as the publication recalls, the IMF mission began technical discussions in Warsaw with representatives of Ukraine in the context of preparations for the second revision of the EFF, and in June the IMF Board of Directors completed the first revision of the program. It was reported that Ukraine received about $890 million, which will be used to support the budget.

In March 2023, the IMF approved allocation of a loan to Ukraine for $15.6 billion, designed for four years. The funds were promised to Kiev as part of an overall support package worth $115 billion. It was reported that the loan program is aimed at “enshrining policies that support fiscal, external, price and financial stability,” as well as supporting economic recovery. The IMF expects that the loan will help attract large-scale concessional financing from international donors and partners of Ukraine.

According to the IMF, Kyiv will have to fulfill certain conditions within two years, including steps to increase tax revenues, maintain exchange rate stability, maintain the independence of the Central Bank and strengthen measures to combat corruption. The second phase of the program will require “deeper reforms” to return fiscal and monetary policy to pre-fighting policies, improve competitiveness and address energy sector vulnerabilities. Reuters, citing a US Treasury official, also wrote that the program includes obligations of the Ukrainian authorities to achieve 19 structural benchmarks within a year alone.

In early March 2022, the IMF approved an emergency loan for Ukraine in the amount of $1.4 billion. In April, the IMF approved the creation of a special account to help stabilize the Ukrainian economy.