Ukraine intends to implement fully and on time the International Monetary Fund`s Extended Fund Facility totaling $17.5 billion until 2019, and carry out relevant reforms, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman told a Kyiv business forum Thursday.
”Today, it is a challenge for modern politicians, for all of us. We will continue our cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, we will fight for these reforms, and as a result, we look forward to further cooperation,” the prime minister said, answered the question about the prospects for the full successful implementation of the IMF program until 2019.
At the same time, Groysman noted the importance of reviving the national economy to eliminate the debt burden and ensure stable growth.
”We see IMF support as a temporary loan. We need to revive the national economy. The economy should work properly so that we can pay off debts that Ukraine has accumulated. All that Ukraine has accumulated is as result of talentless, populist and substandard policies of those who were once responsible for changes in the country,” the head of government said.
Earlier, Ukraine resumed cooperation with the IMF under the EFF worth $17.5 billion in September 2016 after a break, which lasted for more than 12 months. Under the program, Ukraine has already received three disbursements worth $7.62 billion in total. It expected to receive the fourth $1 billion before the end of 2016.
Ukraine has fulfilled key conditions for the fourth tranche, including the adoption of a well-balanced national budget for 2017 and the nationalization of the country`s No. 1 bank, PrivatBank. However, an IMF Executive Board meeting on the Ukrainian issue would be postponed.
Early in March, Ukraine and the IMF agreed an updated memorandum on cooperation whose key recommendations include pension reform and the cancellation of a moratorium on the sale of agricultural land, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.
The IMF Executive Board is scheduled to discuss the Ukrainian issue on March 20.
