IMF schedules Ukraine loan tranche review for Sept. 14

The IMF Executive Board decided on Sept. 7 to schedule for Sept. 14 a review for its third tranche under its USD 17.5 bln Extended Funds Facility loan program with the Ukrainian government, its website reported. The first review was conducted in July 2015 and resulted in the issuance of the second loan tranche worth USD 1.67 bln. The first tranche, worth USD 5.0 bln, was issued in March 2015.

Alexander Paraschiy: Ukraine has waited a year for this moment, considering this tranche was scheduled to arrive in fall 2015 and has since been postponed numerous times. Just the mere inclusion of Ukraine in the schedule is a very positive signal that leads us to believe the loan tranche will be issued.

The only question at this point is the sum of the tranche. Ukrainian officials have been speculating about USD 0.7 – 1.0 bln but the eventual number might be different. A positive IMF decision will unlock USD 1.0 bln in Eurobonds under U.S. guarantees and a EUR 1.2 bln loan from the EU, half of which is scheduled by central bank to be wired by the year end.