The IMF’s executive board on Friday approved a US$1.1 billion disbursement to Ukraine as part of an ongoing loan program to provide budget support.
The approval bolsters Ukraine as it faces continued Russian attacks, and comes just more than a month after staff at the IMF completed the sixth review of an existing four-year program worth about US$15.5 billion.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to take a devastating social and economic toll on Ukraine,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement announcing the decision.
Photo: Reuters
“Despite the war, macroeconomic stability is being preserved through skillful policymaking by the Ukrainian authorities as well as substantial external support,” she said.
Friday’s payout brings the total disbursed under the program since it was signed in March last year to about US$9.8 billion, according to the IMF.
“I am grateful to the team of the International Monetary Fund for their consistent assistance to our country in difficult times,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote in a message on his Telegram account.
Friday’s board approval means Kyiv would receive the money before US president-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump has repeatedly criticized US spending on the war and pledged to end the conflict quickly, raising concern among US allies that Ukraine might have to concede significant amounts of its territory to Russia.
Ukraine’s economy “has remained resilient ... although risks are tilted to the downside due to headwinds from attacks on energy infrastructure and a tight labor market,” Georgieva said.
“Preparedness and contingency planning are key to enable appropriate policy action should risks materialize,” she added.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon on Monday said that some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region. Those are the first reported casualties since the US and Ukraine announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost three-year war. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that about 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during a battle with the Ukrainian army at the weekend. The casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a
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