National Bank of Ukraine: fifth EFF program review to focus on fiscal issues, funding gap
MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax) - The upcoming fifth review of Ukraine's fulfillment of its obligations to the International Monetary Fund in the framework of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement, which will be devoted to fiscal issues among others, will require a consolidation of efforts, Ukrainian media reported, quoting the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andrei Pyshny.
"We are preparing for the next, fifth, review, which, we gather, will require the utmost concentration and consolidation of efforts, as its main focus and planned obligations will concern fiscal issues and closing the funding gap for the years to come," he said on social media following a meeting of the regional group of IMF and the World Bank group countries in Chisinau.
Pyshny also said that during the meetings he discussed the possibility of revising the fund's policy regarding the cost of its loans to recipient countries with IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura and Executive Director Paul Hilbers.
The IMF's Executive Board completed the fourth review of the EFF for Ukraine on June 28 and approved the release of the fifth tranche in the amount of SDR1.66 billion (about $2.2 billion), which will be used for budget support.
The four-year EFF totaling around $15.6 billion was approved on March 31, 2023 and is part of an international aid package of $122 billion for Ukraine. A first tranche of $2.7 billion was disbursed in early April, and second and third tranches of SDR664 million or about $881 million-$890 million at the then exchange rates in early July and mid-December. The IMF board at the end of March agreed to disburse a fourth EFF tranche of SDR 664 million or around $880 million to Ukraine as the result of the program's third review.
Another two tranches of SDR835 million each are envisaged in 2024 - one in September and the other in December. Two tranches are planned for 2025 - SDR684 million each will be released in early March and late August, followed by three last tranches of SDR966 million each.
