REUTERS
Ukraine and its key lender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are now at the final stage of negotiations on the next loan tranche; however any comments on its details and the forthcoming structural reform beacons may be issued only after the signing of the memo and its publication, Ukraine's Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk told one of the TV channels.
"We'll comment [on a memorandum with the IMF] only once the talks are completed and the memo is published. We are now at the final stage, and we will soon agree on all issues. After the memorandum is signed, receiving the tranche will be a matter of a few days. The money will go to the National Bank's reserves, which will strengthen the hryvnia," Danyliuk said.
Harmonization of all the negotiating issues is also a matter of a few days, according to the minister.
Read alsoUkraine’s central bank spends almost $80 mln to support hryvnia in JanuaryAs UNIAN reported earlier, in September 2016, after more than a year's break, Ukraine has resumed cooperation with the IMF on the four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) worth $17.5 billion. Under this program, Ukraine has already received three loan tranches, totaling $7.62 billion. Ukraine expected to receive the fourth $1 billion tranche by the end of 2016, having fulfilled the key requirements, namely the adoption of the budget for 2017 and nationalization of the country's largest bank, PrivatBank.
Read alsoIMF Executive Board to meet on Ukraine "in coming weeks"However, the IMF Executive Board meeting on the Ukrainian issue and allocation of money was delayed several times. Meanwhile, it order to hold such a meeting, Ukraine and the IMF are required to sign a letter of intent, followed by a memorandum, which would identify key beacons of the reform program implementation for the coming months. These beacons are expected to be land and pension reforms.
February 13, the head of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeria Gontareva said that Ukraine would sign off a memorandum with the International Monetary Fund for the fourth loan tranche worth $1 billion in a few days.
At the same time, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in an interview with Reuters noted that the Fund was satisfied with its negotiations with Ukraine on the country’s reform program and noted that the direction of cooperation was set correctly.