IMF mission's review of SBA for Ukraine to last most of Jan – Envoy Rashkovan

Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Ukraine Vladyslav Rashkovan says the work of the IMF mission, which is making the first review of the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine, will last most of January over the New Year holidays.

"The work of the mission, which is making the first review of the Stand-By Arrangement, began in remote mode on December 21. It will last most of January due to the holidays and time zone differences. Successful missions end with staff level agreements," the official wrote on Facebook on December 24.

Read alsoZelensky says Ukraine expects new IMF disbursement early in 2021Rashkovan noted that all planned meetings were held successfully during the first three days of the IMF mission's operation.

"I can say that the scheduled meetings, both at the highest and expert levels, have been held successfully over the recent three days," he added.

Ukraine and IMF: Background

On June 9, 2020, the IMF's Executive Board adopted an 18-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine with funding equivalent to SDR 3.6 billion (about US$5 billion) aimed at helping Ukraine overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 12, Ukraine received the first tranche of the IMF loan under the SBA worth US$2.1 billion.

In late November, the Finance Ministry reported on the successful completion of talks with the IMF on benchmarks of the draft budget for 2021, which was one of the major prerequisites for starting the SBA review.