IMF and Ukraine reach staff-level agreement on a new 3-year program

The International Monetary Fund and Ukraine reached a staff-level agreement on a new $5.5 billion three-year program, the managing director of the IMF said on Saturday. "I was pleased to note that IMF staff has reached an agreement with the authorities on the policies to underpin a new 3-year, SDR 4 billion arrangement ($5.5 billion) under the Extended Fund Facility," Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement issued after her phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

She said the agreement was subject to IMF management approval and to approval by the Executive Board, and the effectiveness of the arrangement would be conditional on the implementation of a set of prior actions. "The President and I agreed that Ukraine's economic success depends crucially on strengthening the rule of law, enhancing the integrity of the judiciary, and reducing the role of vested interests in the economy," she said.

She also said it is important to safeguard the gains made in cleaning up the banking system and to recover the large costs to taxpayers from bank resolutions.