World Bank gives Ukraine USD 400 mln for banks

The World Bank’s board of directors voted yesterday to allocate a first tranche of USD 400 mln to Ukraine to rehabilitate the banking sector, the World Bank said in a press release. Reforms to be supported by the loan include creation of a transparent process to ensure banks are recapitalized with private funding, and where that is not possible, recapitalized or resolved with public resources at the lowest possible cost. The tranche will also support the approval of legal amendments to make it faster to deal with vulnerable banks and lower the cost to taxpayers. A second tranche, previously stated to be USD 350 mln in volume, will be directed at restructuring Ukraine’s banking sector and enhancing the legal and regulatory framework.