Kyiv hopes to get SDR1.5 billion from IMF by yearend
KYIV. Dec 14 (Interfax) - Ukraine hopes to receive SDR1.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before the end of this year, Acting Finance Minister Ihor Umansky told Interfax.
"We were due to receive SDR2.5 billion, yet at the latest negotiations the IMF offered SDR1.5 billion and another SDR1 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2010," Umansky said.
The chance to receive IMF funds this year is 50/50, he said.
"The [presidential] election cannot be a program deadline. The end of the fiscal year is being considered, and, as far as I know, the IMF is analyzing our reports and considering the possible resumption of the program. There is still a chance, but political risks of the IMF, the country and the program are too large. I would say that chances are 50/50, bearing in mind the current political situation and its influence on the program," Umansky said.
International fiscal institutions regard the rivalry of Ukrainian leaders in the presidential election campaign as the absence of a consolidated anti-crisis policy, the acting minister said.
"We are trying to explain to the IMF the possibilities and instruments possessed by the government, which are necessary for the fulfillment of the program," Umansky said.
The allocation of the fourth tranche of the IMF loan, $3.8 billion, was scheduled for November after the third review of the Ukrainian fulfillment of the program. The IMF mission completed a visit to Kyiv in late October, but its report was not positive. The IMF said many times that it expected a consolidated policy of Ukrainian authorities in anti-crisis measures.