IMF team to visit Ukraine to discuss draft budget for 2019

Mr. Goesta Ljungman, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative in Ukraine, has said a team of IMF experts will visit Ukraine to hold consultations on the draft state budget for 2019, the adoption of which is one of the conditions for providing funding.

According to Ljungman, the experts will stay in Ukraine on November 4-9.

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UNIAN memo. The IMF and the Ukrainian authorities earlier reached agreement on economic policies for a new 14-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) worth US$3.9 billion, which is to be approved by the IMF's Executive Board. The new SBA will replace the arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), approved in March 2015 and set to expire in March 2019.

Board consideration is expected later in the year following parliamentary approval of a government budget for 2019 consistent with IMF staff recommendations and an increase in gas and heating tariffs for households, reflecting market developments while continuing to protect low-income population.

Experts predict that Ukraine is able to raise up to $8 billion in funding from international partners thanks to a new program with the IMF.