The International Monetary Fund and conflict-torn Ukraine have reached a preliminary deal on a new financial rescue plan worth $17.5 billion that could be a "turning point" for Kiev, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday. In total, Ukraine will receive $40 billion (35 billion euros) in assistance over four years coupled with bilateral loans from other sources, Lagarde said, helping to stabilise Kiev''s finances after 10 months of conflict in the east.
Talks have been under way in Kiev for days to reach an agreement on Ukraine''s fourth IMF bailout in 10 years, with the last package in April 2014 failing to stave off financial crisis in the former Soviet republic. "I am pleased to announce that the IMF team working in Kiev has concluded a staff-level agreement with the Ukrainian government on a new economic reform programme that would be supported by an extended fund facility of about $17.5 billion from the IMF," Lagarde told a news conference in Brussels.
The announcement came as leaders meeting at marathon peace talks in Minsk announced a cease-fire deal aimed at halting the conflict. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Kiev was committed to the reforms demanded by the IMF. "We anticipate, if the programme succeeds and Russian aggression stops, that the Ukrainian economy will start to grow in 2016," he told reporters. "This four-year programme shows that Ukraine will stick during that time to the vital reforms necessary to stabilise the country''s finances."
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