IMF schedules Ukraine third review for March 20

The IMF executive board has scheduled for March 20 the third review for Ukraine, reported Gerry Rice, the director of the IMF Communications Department told a March 9 briefing. At this meeting, it will decide on issuing a fourth loan tranche of USD 1 bln under a USD 17.5 bln Extended Funds Facility program. On March 4, the IMF reported that a staff-level agreement with Ukraine on the third review was reached.

Alexander Paraschiy: Only half a year has passed since the last wire from the IMF, which is evidence Ukraine is moving in the right direction. The Privatbank nationalization was the catalyst for the fourth tranche, while the launch of an agricultural land market will be the key for the fifth.

If the government is successful (and that’s a big “if”), we can expect at least more wire this year. Also, we expect that the fourth IMF tranche will unlock a EUR 1.2 bln loan from the EU, with EUR 0.6 bln already committed to be wired in the upcoming weeks.