The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) believes that it is appropriate for Ukraine to start talks on the new long-term program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this autumn, NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii has said.
“I believe that Ukraine should initiate a new program with the IMF, about which negotiations should begin this autumn, after the completion of the next review of the current arrangement, and return to the resumption of longer-term cooperation with the IMF,” he said at a briefing on Thursday.
Smolii also said that according to the results of the review of the Stand By Arrangement in May and November, two tranches of $ 1.3 billion each are expected.
The IMF Executive Board, following a meeting on December 19, 2018, approved a new program of cooperation with Ukraine under the Stand-By Arrangement. The amount of the 14-month program is equivalent to SDR 2.8 billion, or about $3.9 billion. Some SDR 1 billion (about $1.4 billion) was provided immediately, while the remaining funds will be provided based on the results of the program reviews in May and September 2019.
