Washington, December 31 (Interfax) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to modify Ukraine's performance criterion on Net International Reserves (NIR) to lower the NIR floor as of the end of December by about $2 billion to help the country honor its external financial obligations, Max Alier, the IMF resident representative for Ukraine, said in a statement.
"On Dec. 30, 2009, the IMF Executive Board agreed to the government’s request to modify the performance criterion on Net International Reserves (NIR), as specified in the current Stand-By Arrangement, to lower the end-December NIR floor by about $2 billion," Alier said in his statement.
"This important step will enable the Ukrainian authorities to use existing resources to make external payments due – including gas payments – within the framework of Ukraine’s program with the Fund," Alier said.
This decision does not involve any new disbursement by the IMF, he said.
The IMF mission has been continuing to work with the Ukrainian authorities over the holiday period on a range of outstanding issues, he said.
"The IMF continues to discuss, within the context of formulating a 2010 budget, how to ensure that the Ukrainian economy is placed on a sustainable growth path and, particularly, that the most vulnerable groups in society will be protected," Alier said.
"Agreement with the authorities on a 2010 budget, with the assurance of broad political support, would provide the basis for renewed progress and a resumption of disbursements under the Fund-supported program," the statement says.
