IMF, IFIs ready to further cooperate with Ukraine, Lagarde says
25 January 2018
The IMF and other IFIs are ready to support Ukraine in its
reform efforts, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko at their Jan. 24 meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
“Ukraine should take advantage of the current favorable external environment to
accelerate reforms and transition to stronger growth,” she said in a press
release.
Recall, the IMF and Ukraine agreed to a four-year, USD 17.5
bln Extended Fund Facility program in March 2015 with a quarterly review. So
far, Ukraine has received four tranches of USD 8.7 bln total, though tranches
had been planned for every quarter. The last tranche of USD 1.0 bln was
released in April 2017 as the IMF has expressed dissatisfaction with Ukraine’s
reform efforts since.
Evgeniya Akhtyrko: Recently, a number of Ukraine’s top
officials have emphasized
the importance of getting IMF support in order to maintain economic stability
this year. And despite the recent resistance to demands from IFIs, we expect
Ukraine to meet the conditions for the next loan tranche of USD 1 bln this
year, including some deal involving natural gas price hikes and legislation to
create the High Anti-Corruption Court in line with Western requirements. We
don’t share the NBU’s optimism for receiving two loan tranches for USD 3-3.5
bln in 2018.
