IMF chief warns Ukraine over slow pace of reform
Christine Lagarde, the organisation’s managing director, issued the ultimatum as Kyiv continues to sweat on a payment that had been due in October a year ago but was held back because of budget disputes.
Only last week, Ukrainian economy minister Aivaras Abromavicius resigned, saying his reform efforts had been blocked by government colleagues.
In an apparent reference to Abromavicius’s complaint that vested interests still dominated Ukrainian policymaking, Lagarde said she was concerned about slow progress on corruption.
Poroshenko and Lagarde “agreed to elaborate a roadmap of the top-priority reforms that will give a boost to Ukraine-IMF relations”, the statement said.
Poroshenko had earlier expressed the hope of receiving the next $1.7-billion slice of the International Monetary Fund loan later this month.
The IMF program is the keystone of a roughly $40 billion worldwide bailout of Ukraine that could collapse, with almost-certain disastrous consequences for a country reeling from a severe recession and a pro-Russian insurgency in the east.
“The president noted the necessity of rebooting the government without snap elections, which would only deepen the political crisis and worsen conditions for carrying out reform”, a statement on his official website said.
“We will only get help when the whole world sees that we are helping ourselves and moving our country forward”.
In March 2015, the International Monetary Fund approved a four-year loan package of 17.5 billion USA dollars for Ukraine to keep the country’s ailing economy afloat amid economic and political turbulence, while requesting Ukraine to implement a series of economic reforms, including those in judicial and energy sectors.
Lagarde warned Ukraine, whose Orange Revolution more than a decade ago was hijacked by infighting, of “a return to the pattern of failed economic policies that’s plagued its recent history”, according to the statement.
Ambassador Pyatt praised the prime minister’s comments and stressed that the “US will stand with Ukraine as it continues on the hard path of reform”.