FX.co ★ Ukraine to get $17 in loan

The Executive Board of the IMF approved a 2-year loan program for Ukraine totaling $17.01 billion. The first deployment of $3.19 billion will be transferred in the near future. Two billion U.S. dollars of this immediate disbursement will be used to pay the country’s debts. The IMF said that the timing of the second and third aid packages will be based on the reviews and performance criteria.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde admitted that there are risks to the program citing the current situation in Ukraine. Thus, the program is subject to bimonthly reviews. Meanwhile, Lagarde assured that this should not undermine Ukraine’s ability to fulfill the obligations.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak said that the bailout from the IMF may be received between May 5 and 8. About 2 billion dollars will be allocated to support the budget, while one billion dollars will be transferred to the reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine.