Ukraine’s Finance Ministry continues cooperation with IMF – minister

The Ukrainian Finance Ministry’s course remains unchanged, and its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues, the Ministry’s press service has reported.

"The strategic course of the Finance Ministry remains unchanged: cooperation with the International Monetary Fund continues," the report says.

According to Finance Minister Ihor Umansky, the government activity remains within the framework of the Staff Level Agreement reached between the IMF and the previous government.

“Of course, all these agreements were reached with the expectation of receiving a new Extended Fund Facility in November-December 2019. The government could have started with a clean slate with the IMF, but it was decided to take prior agreements as a basis and update them. The updating is a matter of weeks,” the minister explained.

On March 10, the Ukrainian government already discussed key issues with the IMF during a telephone conversation. The minister noted that a visit to Washington, D.C. will be prepared as soon as the need arises.

As reported, on January 18, 2020, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that Ukraine should fulfill preliminary requirements for the launch of a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program worth $5.5 billion. According to her, Ukraine and the IMF have reached a staff-level agreement that stipulates the fulfillment of certain preliminary requirements.

In December 2019, the IMF agreed with the Ukrainian government on a new three-year EFF program for 4 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), or about $5.52 billion.

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