The International Monetary Fund announced a new $17.5 billion lifeline for Ukraine, which would bring the total bailout package to $40 billion. The new sum would be a four-year program.<\/p>\n
Lagarde will propose the $17.5 billion expansion program to the IMF by the end of the month.<\/p>\n
“The program is not yet approved by the governing council. I hope to offer it for approval by the end of February,”<\/em> she said Thursday.<\/p>\n “This new four-year arrangement would support immediate economic stabilization in Ukraine as well as a set of bold policy reforms aimed at restoring robust growth over the medium term and improving living standards for the Ukrainian people,”<\/em> Lagarde said in a statement.<\/p>\n In return Ukraine will have to present a \u201cprogram of deep economic reforms,\u201d<\/em> which includes the whole economy and a plan to transform Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state oil and gas company.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a large program, it\u2019s a longer-term program than the previous one, which was a traditional SBA [Stand-By Arrangement] for two years,”<\/em>the IMF chief said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s ambitious, it\u2019s not without risk, but we believe it is a realistic set of macroeconomic framework, ambitious reforms, but reforms the authorities feel confident they can deliver,\u201d<\/em> Lagarde said.<\/p>\n IMF head Christine Lagarde didn’t answer the question as to whether the four-year international bailout program for Ukraine included credits from Russia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sum includes funds from the IMF and the EU, and also bilateral and multilateral loans.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The International Monetary Fund announced a new $17.5 billion lifeline for Ukraine, which would bring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n