NBU, Ukrainian govt sign updated memorandum for 2nd review of IMF program
MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Ukraine expects in December a positive decision by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement and on allocating a third disbursement of at least $900 million, Governor of National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Andrei Pyshny said.
"We received the conclusions at the [IMF] staff level, the National Bank signed the memorandum [on economic and financial policy] in a new version, so did the government. Now we are waiting for the IMF board's decision," Ukrainian media quoted him as saying at the annual forum of corporate directors of the Professional Association of Corporate Governance in Kiev on Wednesday.
A positive decision by the IMF Executive Board will mean not only the allocation of the $900 million third tranche, but also a confirmation of support from Ukrainian international partners, as the total scope of the $15.6 billion EFF program is $115 billion in the baseline version and $140 billion in the negative version, Pyshny said.
The National Bank still expects to receive $38 billion of external financial assistance in 2024, he said.
At the same time, the risk of halting such support remains high, Pyshny said.
Ukraine's issue is not yet included in the schedule of meetings of the IMF Board of Directors, which is drawn up until December 15 inclusive.
As reported, the IMF said it had reached staff-level agreement (SLA) on an updated set of economic and financial policies for the second review of the EFF Arrangement on November 13.
"All quantitative performance criteria for end-June and indicative targets for end-September were met. The majority of structural benchmarks were also met, paving the way for the Executive Board's consideration, which would enable disbursement of about $900 million (SDR 663.9 million)," the statement said.
The four-year EFF Arrangement was approved on March 31 this year, with the first disbursement of $2.7 billion channeled in early April. The planned schedule of the arrangement assumes allocating to Ukraine after the first disbursement three disbursements of SDR664 million (about $880 million at the current exchange rate) in mid-June and October this year, and at the end of February next year based on the results of the first, second and third review, when the fulfillment of obligations is assessed as of the end of April, June and December this year, respectively.