The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has approved an $8.1 billion, four-year loan for Ukraine, with $1.5bn to be disbursed immediately to help keep the government running as its war against Russia’s invasion drags into a fifth year.
The IMF said the new Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Ukraine would help anchor a $136.5bn international support package for the war-torn country, which this week marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The new loan, which replaces a $15.5bn programme that was approved in 2023, will help Kyiv to maintain economic stability and keep public spending flowing, the IMF said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko praised the IMF loan as part of a broader financial framework that would cover an estimated budget shortfall of $136.5bn over four years, including a 90bn euro loan from the European Union.
“It is very important for us that in the fifth year of the full-scale war, against the backdrop of systematic attacks on the energy sector, Ukraine has guaranteed international financial support from partners and the resources for the stable functioning of the state,” she wrote on Telegram.
The World Bank, European Union, United Nations and the Ukrainian government this week issued a new report that put the cost of rebuilding Ukraine at $588bn over the next decade.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the IMF loan would resolve Ukraine’s balance of payments problem and restore medium-term external viability, while boosting prospects for reconstruction and growth after the war ended and help to facilitate Ukraine’s steps to join the European Union.
“Ukraine and its people have weathered a long and devastating war for over four years with remarkable resilience,” she said in a statement, lauding work by Ukrainian authorities to maintain overall macroeconomic and financial stability, boost domestic revenues and advance some critical reforms.
She said officials were committed to “tackling longstanding bottlenecks to growth,” including through continued efforts to combat corruption, address tax avoidance and evasion, reform energy markets, and strengthen financial market infrastructure.
The programme would be “promptly recalibrated” in the case of successful peace negotiations, she said in a statement.
Georgieva, who paid a surprise visit to Ukraine last month, said the war had taken a toll on economic and social conditions, despite efforts by authorities to stabilise the economy, contain inflation and restructure private sector debt. The new loan aimed to deepen structural reforms, she said.
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