The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the disbursement of $1.3 billion to Ukraine under the Rapid Financing Facility (RFI) to help meet urgent balance of payments needs due to the deficit caused by export difficulties. of wheat, announced the international organization.
The scope and intensity of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which began more than seven months ago, has caused enormous human suffering and economic problems, the IMF said in a statement.
They showed that, amid massive population displacement and the destruction of housing and key infrastructure, Ukraine’s real GDP is projected to fall by 35 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, and that financing needs remain very high.
IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a written statement that Ukraine’s fiscal deficit has grown to unprecedented levels.
“The Ukrainian authorities deserve credit for maintaining a significant degree of macro-financial stability in these extremely challenging circumstances. While the economy adjusts to the prolonged war, the main macroeconomic policies were aimed at maintaining priority spending, easing pressure on the national currency hryvnia and foreign reserves, as well as maintaining financial stability,” Georgieva said.
She noted that in this context and in light of the ongoing urgent balance of payments needs, including the large deficit in grain exports, the IMF approved new emergency financing for Ukraine in the total amount of 1,005.9 billion special drawing rights, or about 1.3 billion US dollars.
