IMF to decide on cash for Ukraine this month: central bank governor
KYIV (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s mission to Ukraine will determine at the end of October how much additional financial aid Kyiv needs, Central Bank Governor Valeria Gontareva said on Thursday.
An IMF program already in place, part of a broader $27-billion funding package, was agreed in April, to shore up the former Soviet republic’s foreign currency reserves and support the state budget.
But last month, the IMF warned that Ukraine may need as much as $19 billion in additional funds if its conflict with pro-Russian separatists continues during 2015.
“If the geopolitical risks that are related to Ukraine threaten the development of the entire world … then everyone understands what devastating consequences they have for the Ukrainian economy,” Gontareva said at a news conference.
She also said that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is preparing an “unprecedented” aid for Ukraine, but would not give a size of the program.
“This is a cooperation program in the areas that need reforms,” she said.
The program envisages financing of reverse gas purchases by the state gas company, Naftogaz, and participation in recapitalization of Ukraine’s banks, whose finances have been battered by the conflict, she said.
“We are only beginning work on this program,” Gontareva said.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Alexander Winning, Larry King)