The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $900 million disbursement to Ukraine under a $15.6 billion loan program, just hours before IMF Managing Director Georgieva met with visiting Ukrainian President Zelensky in the United States.
On December 11, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board of directors approved the disbursement of $900 million to Ukraine under a $15.6 billion loan program, shortly before IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva met with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the United States.
IMF Managing Director Georgieva meets Ukrainian President Zelensky in Washington. Photo: Internet
Ms Georgieva met Mr Zelensky for nearly an hour at the IMF headquarters in Washington and informed the Ukrainian president that the IMF board had agreed to support Ukraine. The IMF board approved the expert-level agreement reached with Ukraine last month, following a second review of Kyiv’s progress in meeting the criteria for a four-year loan under the Long-Term Support Facility (EFF) approved earlier this year.
The move paves the way for the disbursement of a $900 million loan, bringing the total amount of IMF assistance to Ukraine this year to $4.5 billion. The IMF chief said that Ukraine's economy is showing resilience but the outlook still has significant risks, mainly due to the impact of the conflict. In addition, Ukraine also has predictable sources of external financial support.
According to data from Ukraine’s Finance Ministry , the country has received more than $68.5 billion in budget support since the conflict began. Ukraine expects a budget deficit of about $43 billion in 2024 and plans to finance it with domestic borrowing and financial support from Western partners. However, Ukrainian officials have become increasingly concerned about their finances, and analysts say Western support could begin to wane next year.
IMF Mission Director to Ukraine Gavin Gray has called on Kyiv to restructure its external commercial debt in the first half of 2024. The IMF has raised its forecast for Ukraine's economic growth this year to 4.5% from the previously forecast 1-3% and expects growth of 3-4% next year.
In late March this year, the IMF approved a four-year loan program worth 15.6 billion USD for Ukraine under the EFF framework, while allowing additional support of about 100 billion USD from donors./.
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