Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Yakiv Smolii has said that it is necessary to continue the implementation of obligations under the Stand By Arrangement (SBA) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by Ukraine and start talks on the new programme with the IMF this year.
The NBU said on its Facebook page that Smolii gave this information at a recent meeting with Senior Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Sergei Guriev.
According to the report, during the meeting, the current situation in the economy of Ukraine and in the financial market was discussed.
The meeting participants discussed the prospects for servicing Ukraine’s foreign debt, the process of preparing for the entry of international financial institutions (IFIs) into the capital of state-owned banks and the potential participation of the EBRD in this, as well as the development of electronic payments.
In addition, Smolii recalled the intentions of the central bank to develop and approve by the end of the year a new strategy for reforming the financial sector of Ukraine for 2020-2025, which is already being worked on. For their part, the representatives of the EBRD expressed their support for the policy of flexible exchange rates and the inflation targeting regime, which the National Bank adheres to. They also pointed out the need to preserve the independence of the NBU, because, as the experience of other countries shows, this is the key to a healthy economic policy, the NBU said.
