IMF prepared to finance Ukraine from its drawdown account
International Monetary Fund is ready to finance Ukraine from its own special account (Photo:Johannes P. Christo / Reuters)
While negotiations about a fully-fledged program are ongoing, the IMF is prepared to extend financial aid to Ukraine using its special drawdown account, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine on Oct. 26.
“We have an account administered by the fund, through which funds can be sent to Ukraine, and at the moment, we have paid $2.2 billion from this administered account,” Georgieva said, in response a question about the possibility of covering Ukraine’s state budget deficit in 2023, estimated to be at $38 billion.
“In terms of the fund's resources, this is just the beginning. We are now interfacing with the government, and by next month our work will show at what stage, under what conditions, and in what amount it will be necessary to provide financial assistance.”
She added that the IMF has already sent Ukraine $2.7 billion in emergency funding, throughout 2022.
As reported earlier, Kristalina Georgieva said that in 2023 Ukraine may need up to $5 billion in monthly external financing.
The draft state budget of Ukraine for 2023, which is making its way through the country’s parliament, assumes substantial foreign relief in financing the massive $38 billion deficit.
The latest round of IMF-Ukraine talks took place in Vienna, Austria, on Oct. 17-20.
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