IMF-managed Ukraine capacity development fund launches operations with $27.5 mln budget
MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The Ukraine Capacity Development Fund (UCDF), created to finance economic reforms and administered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has launched operations, Ukrainian media reported, citing the IMF's press release.
"This initial work plan [the fund's budget] amounts to $27.5 million, with expectations that the target of $65 million will be reached. Current resources in the amount of $16.5 million are being provided by the following development partners: the Netherlands, Slovakia, Latvia, Japan, and Lithuania. These resources will help cover IMF capacity development operations over a five-year period (2024-2028)," the IMF said.
"The UCDF's work plan, endorsed today by the Steering Committee, focuses on core areas of the authorities' economic and financial reform agenda, well aligned with reforms under Ukraine's Extended Fund Facility-supported program. These include: fiscal reforms (including revenue mobilization, public financial management, and expenditure policy); monetary policy; financial sector policies; strengthening financial integrity and tackling corruption; strengthening data compilation and dissemination; as well as country-tailored training and technical assistance on macroeconomic frameworks," according to the press release.
According to the National Bank (NBU) and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the inaugural meeting of the fund committee on February 13 was attended by representatives of the IMF, led by Deputy Director of the European Department, Uma Ramakrishnan, and the head of the IMF mission in Ukraine, Gavin Gray; NBU head Andrei Pyshny and his deputies, Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko and his deputies; as well as other representatives of Ukrainian government agencies and international development partners.
Deputy Minister of Finance Denis Ulyutin, reporting on the already achieved results of cooperation with the IMF in terms of technical assistance, noted that over the past few months, technical support has been focused on the following areas: analysis of financial indicators and fiscal risks of key state-owned enterprises, as well as stress testing of their financial indicators for different future scenarios. This analysis was published in the 2024 State Budget Fiscal Risk Report. In addition, a mission on medium-term budget planning took place in early December 2023 to forecast budget indicators for the medium term, and a mission to improve liquidity management took place last week.
The UCDF Steering Committee includes representatives of donor countries, and the IMF and the Ukrainian authorities, who provide strategic management of the fund, and determine and approve priorities and plans for technical assistance, as well as an annual report on the results of the work completed.