During the press briefing, Julie Kozak, a representative of the International Monetary Fund, commented on the assumptions of experts regarding the likelihood of writing off Ukraine's $15 billion debt. Ukraine's debt has been recognized as sustainable, the restructuring perimeter does not include debts to the IMF, and there are no plans to write off the debt. This was reported by UNN with reference to the IMF press service.
Details
When asked whether the IMF could write off Ukraine's debt of about $15 billion, given the analysis of Ukraine's debt sustainability, Julia Kozak, Director of the IMF Communications Department, said the following:
Ukraine's debt has been recognized as sustainable on a forward-looking basis under three conditions: First, continued fiscal consolidation as envisaged in the program. The second is the continuation of significant concessional financing, again in line with the program, and debt restructuring. Importantly, the debt restructuring perimeter covers official bilateral debt and external commercial debt. It does not include multilateral debts, including, of course, debts to the IMF. So, there are no such plans with regard to - with regard to your specific question.
The IMF representative also commented on the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the global economy, including such factors as rising prices, inflationary pressures, and higher interest rates.
Of course, the Ukrainian economy has suffered the most, as well as, of course, the people of Ukraine,
As far as the impact of the invasion of Ukraine on the global economy is concerned, we certainly saw a very sharp rise in food and energy prices at the beginning, which affected the global economy.
The IMF representative noted that the spike in food and energy prices has led to a cost-of-living crisis around the world, and it is low-income countries that have been hit hardest, particularly by the spike in food prices. But central banks have responded to this, the IMF spokeswoman said, pointing to "an easing of inflationary pressures around the world.
So we are still seeing some impact on the global economy. For low-income countries, rising interest rates have led to higher debt service costs for some countries, and for many countries, higher debt service costs.
As for a full assessment of the above, it will be in the upcoming World Economic Outlook, she promised.
Recall
Ukraine's public and publicly guaranteed debt reached UAH 5.49 trillion or USD 143.69 billion as of early March.