IMF grants Ukraine $1.4B in emergency financing

On March 9, the IMF Executive Board greenlighted $1.4 billion in additional financing for Ukraine under an emergency support program known as the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).

The funds disbursed under the RFI program will help finance priority expenditures of the state budget and shore up Ukraine’s balance of payments, the NBU press service informs.

“We are immensely grateful to the IMF for its prompt response to our request. We look forward to completing all required procedures as soon as possible. We highly appreciate this emergency funding from our international partners. It is vital for Ukraine now that it has been going through such a horrible time,” said NBU Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko.

The RFI opens up quick access to financial assistance to countries that urgently need to eliminate mismatches in their balance of payments, in particular those arising due to war.

The RFI is designed for cases where it is impossible to launch a full-fledged program of economic reforms. At the same time, an IMF member country requesting such assistance should cooperate with the Fund to resolve its balance of payments problems and draw up a general list of economic and financial policy measures it plans to take to achieve that.

As a reminder, Ukraine launched an international initiative to suspend Russia's and Belarus' membership in IMF and all World Bank Group organizations.

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