IMF board to complete fourth EFF Arrangement review of Ukraine this week - fund representative

MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board of directors plans to complete the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement for Ukraine this week, which should result in allocating the fifth tranche of $2.2 billion, Ukrainian media reported, citing the fund's First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath.

At the regular annual Navigating the Changing Landscape: Central Banks in a New Normal research conference in Kiev last Friday, Gopinath said that the IMF board would "meet next week" to complete the fourth review of the EFF Arrangement program for Ukraine, and that one of the fund's conclusions was that Ukraine has done very well in meeting its fiscal objectives and structural benchmarks.

The IMF clarified that the meeting on Ukraine was scheduled for June 28.

As reported, the four-year EFF Arrangement program of around $15.6 billion was approved on March 31, 2023, and is part of a $122 billion package of international support for Ukraine. The first tranche of $2.7 billion was allocated in early April last year, the second and third tranches of SDR 664 million, approximately $881-$890 million at the then exchange rate, were allocated in early July and mid-December 2023. The board of directors in late March this year approved allocating the fourth tranche of SDR 664 million, approximately $880 million, following the third review.

The SDR (special drawing right) is an international reserve asset. The SDR is not a currency, but its value is based on a basket of five currencies: the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling, according to information on the IMF's website.

Three more tranches of SDR 1.67 billion are planned for 2024 at the end of June, then SDR 835 million each in September and December, and two tranches of SDR 684 million in 2025 at the beginning of March and at the end of August, after which three final tranches of SDR 966 million are planned.