IMF lifts prior conditions for Ukraine loan program, Prime Minister says
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lifted the conditions for Ukraine's new $8.1 billion loan program, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told reporters on Feb. 13.
The IMF has streamlined the agreements established in November by reviewing the preliminary measures and structural benchmarks, Svyrydenko said on Feb. 13. The announcement followed "numerous" discussions and consultations, including direct communication with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
According to Svyrydenko, the program will be considered at the next meeting of the IMF Executive Board with "no prior actions" required, while there has been "much discussion about how this will be done."
"We are working with parliamentarians and will most likely adopt these measures as part of a consolidated tax bill. It will also include issues related to digital platforms, parcels, and the preservation of the military tax after the end of martial law," Svyrydenko said.
Ukraine's debt management head, Yuriy Butsa, told Reuters on Feb. 13 that Ukraine expects its program to be formally approved in weeks. "I think February is still doable in terms of a timeline," Butsa said.
Finalizing the $8.1 billion IMF loan is required for securing a 90 billion euro ($105 billion) lifeline from the European Union, without which Ukraine's finances will run dry in a matter of months.
"The cooperation program with the IMF for Ukraine is the anchor for all international financial support, in particular for obtaining a 90-billion-euro loan from the European Union," Svyrydenko said.
Kyiv has been pushing to delay a new tax on self-employed entrepreneurs until after the war ends, as well as raise the threshold at which entrepreneurs start paying the levy, a person in the Ukrainian government familiar with the talks told the Kyiv Independent on the condition of anonymity.
The renegotiations started on Jan. 21, a week after IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that she expected the Washington-based lender's executive board to give the final stamp of approval in "a matter of weeks."
