KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2021) Ukraine failed to demonstrate to a special International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission enough progress on reforms under a $5-billion economic support arrangement to receive the next tranche, IMF Resident Representative for Ukraine Goesta Ljungman said on Saturday.
Ljungman described the talks with Ukrainian officials as productive but said that the IMF wanted to see more progress on the commitments under the deal.
This applied to such items as the management of Ukraine's financial and regulatory institutions, banking legislation, and anti-corruption efforts, among other changes that the Stand-by Arrangement describes as "a small set of key structural reforms, to ensure that Ukraine is well-poised to return to growth when the [COVID-19] crisis ends."
The IMF approved the $5-billion program last June and wired $2.1 billion right away. The rest of funding was made conditional upon Ukraine's satisfactory progress on the outlined criteria. The original schedule of further payments entailed four $700-million installments � two in late 2020 and two during 2021 � but none were wired so far.
