G7 to contribute to IMF’s financial assistance to Ukraine - Bloomberg

The Group of Seven nations plan to resolve by the end of March the issue of supporting Ukraine with the funds of the International Monetary Fund.

This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to Bloomberg.

It is a multi-year aid package worth up to $16 billion, which will provide an opportunity to cover the needs of the war-torn nation and become a catalyst for additional international financing.

According to the publication's sources, it is expected that this week the governments of the G7 nations – the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan – will instruct their officials to intensify interaction with the IMF and Ukraine toward the implementation of the said program. Its endorsement by G7 is one of the IMF's conditions for finalizing the deal.

The Ukrainian government aims to conclude a new agreement in March in order to receive $5 billion within the first year.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who visited Kyiv earlier this week, said that the Fund is ready to provide significant economic support to Ukraine within the framework of a new full-fledged loan program.

Another condition of the program is ensuring the stability of Ukraine's debt on the part of its main donors and creditors. The plan would also require changes to the IMF's lending rules, which typically do not offer full-fledged loan programs to countries in conflict.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discussed lending to Ukraine with Georgieva, while the teams of the Treasury and IMF are in daily contact on the issue.

To date, Ukraine has utilized $2.7 billion in IMF aid provided under the Rapid Financing Instrument after the full-scale invasion.