REUTERS
Ukraine’s key creditor, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to take a positive decision on the allocation of the second tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), according to the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
As early as this Friday, the IMF is to consider the results of the first revision of the cooperation program, according to Lagarde’s comments voiced during an online conference. The IMF official announced that the decision is expected to be “supportive" of Ukraine's efforts.
Read alsoUkraine may receive another $1.7 bln from IMF next weekLagarde also said that Ukrainian leaders demonstrated firm commitment to reforms, saying that over the past 20 years the Fund has attempted many times to help Ukraine, and only now the IMF leadership sees a real desire to change.
She also stressed that, while seeing the developments on Ukraine's eastern border, the IMF also understands that the Ukrainian authorities have to take important measures, including fighting corruption and financial consolidation, in order to achieve financial stability.
Christine Lagarde said that while she hoped for progress and “bondholders are sensible about what can be achieved,” she indicated the IMF would bless a moratorium on debt payments in the absence of an agreement, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The IMF can lend to a country even if it is in arrears to private bondholders.
“We will apply that policy, which allows us to continue to support Ukraine despite that situation,” she said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine started negotiations on the restructuring of the public debt on March 13, immediately following the approval of the program with the IMF on a $17.5 billion installment.
The Creditors' Committee addressed the IMF and Ukraine’s Finance Ministry through the media and intermediaries with a proposal to extend the maturity of debt and lower the coupon, while abandoning the idea of writing off the face value of the debt.
In June, Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said that Ukraine may "theoretically" declare a moratorium on the payment of the public debt, as this right is enshrined by law which had come into force on June 17, empowering the Cabinet of Ministers to impose a moratorium on foreign debt payments to private creditors until July 01, 2016, noting that there were no such concrete plans at the moment.