NBU sees no problems in completing negotiations with IMF

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) no longer sees any serious obstacles to the successful completion of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on the provision of a new loan to Ukraine.

First Deputy Governor of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova said this in an interview with Liga.net.

"I don’t see any particular problems since the laws on illicit enrichment and the state budget have been adopted, Naftogaz’s unbundling has been signed by the president; as far as I know, new independent supervisory boards of state banks will be created soon. We also have a progress on the most difficult issue - the return of money spent on bankrupt banks," Rozhkova said.

The NBU predicts that by the end of the year the IMF will agree to open a new loan program for Ukraine. "Our basic scenario is that we will reach a staff-level agreement the end of the year," she said.

As reported, on November 14, the IMF mission led by Ron van Rooden arrived in Kyiv to continue the discussion about the possibility of opening a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Ukraine.

The National Bank stated that Ukraine should conclude a new long-term cooperation program with the International Monetary Fund totaling $5-10 billion. According to the NBU forecasts, the first tranche under this program could be received by the end of 2019. The National Bank expects it to be about $2 billion.

The IMF's previous 14-month Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine was approved at the end of 2018. It provided for the allocation of three tranches. Ukraine received the first and only IMF tranche under this program on December 21, 2018.

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