IMF mission to arrive in Ukraine next week - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
The IMF will hold a meeting with Ukrainian officials to review the budget forecast. The goal is to decide on the allocation of the next tranche of $1.1bn from the $15.6bn bailout program.
The International Monetary Fund will meet with Ukrainian officials next week to review the war-torn country's budget outlook and decide whether to allocate the next $1.1 billion of its $15.6 billion aid program, UNN reports citing Bloomberg.
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According to media reports, an IMF team will visit the country for about a week starting September 4, according to people familiar with the plans, who asked not to be named before they are publicly announced. For the latest review in May, the IMF held meetings in Kiev with Ukrainian authorities and other stakeholders, as well as in Warsaw, Poland.
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Before the trip, IMF staff working with Ukraine will attend an informal meeting Thursday with the fund's executive board to update them on the latest news on a loan for Ukraine, according to one of the people.
The IMF press service and the Ukrainian government declined to comment.
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The Washington-based fund approved the March 2023 loan program, agreeing to lend to a country at war for the first time in its nearly 80-year history. It approved a $2.2 billion disbursement in late June.
Kiev's main concern ahead of the visit is finalizing a deal among the G7 countries that would unlock $50 billion in aid with profits from frozen Russian central bank assets. Clarity on those funds will be necessary for Ukraine to show that its budget requirements will be met, a key component for continued IMF support, writes Bloomberg.
The funds are due to flow to Ukraine by the end of the year, according to a G7 agreement in June. But the plan has been complicated by U.S. demands and the risk that Hungary will slow down any pan-European decision to support Kiev or sanction russia.
Any funding would provide much-needed support for Ukraine as the war drags on for more than 2.5 years. In addition to the new funds, on Wednesday the country received widespread support from bondholders for restructuring $20 billion of foreign private debt, providing much-needed debt relief.
