On 21 March 2024, the IMF Executive Board completed the third review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement.
The successful completion of the EFF third review involves the immediate disbursement by the IMF of about USD 880 million (SDR 663.9 million) to Ukraine, which will be channeled for budget support. The funds will also support the country’s international reserves, reinforcing the NBU’s capacity to ensure the sustainability of the exchange rate and maintain macro-financial stability.
Another successful review of the program is an important condition for Ukraine’s access to a USD 122 billion support package from international partners for the duration of the four-year program.
The IMF Board has noted that the Ukrainian authorities continue to perform strongly under the EFF and remain committed to an ambitious reform plan. Ukraine met all structural benchmarks and indicative targets, as well as all but one quantitative performance criteria (i.e. a a small miss of the floor on tax revenues due to border blockades).
The IMF also emphasized that the Ukrainian economy continued to show remarkable resilience in 2023. Sustained reform momentum is necessary to safeguard macroeconomic stability, ensure fiscal and debt sustainability, and lay the groundwork for reconstruction efforts and the path to European Union accession.
"I am grateful to our IMF partners for their unwavering support of Ukraine and to our colleagues from the government for taking joint steps towards reforms despite the high uncertainty and challenges of war. We will remain committed to fulfilling our obligations, knowing that this is what Ukraine needs above all.
Structural reforms will support the economy and macro-financial stability that are essential both in the context of a full-scale war and during post-war reconstruction. In its turn, the IMF's support will help to strengthen the confidence of our partners and raise the necessary financing," said NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy.
The IMF Executive Board’s decision to approve the third review of the program was preceded by a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) reached on 23 February 2024.
As previously reported, the IMF Executive Board on 31 March 2023 approved a four-year Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Ukraine. The program includes measures to support fiscal, external, price, and financial stability and economic recovery in a period of high uncertainty, as well as to improve corporate governance and strengthen state institutions to facilitate Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and EU accession.
The EFF program is being implemented in two stages (wartime and post-war). It provides access to SDR 11.6 billion (equivalent to USD 15.6 billion) in IMF credit financing.In 2023, Ukraine received three disbursements to the total amount of SDR 3.3 billion (USD 4.5 billion). This year, Ukraine could receive four disbursements to the total amount of SDR 4 billion (USD 5.4 billion), including the financing that is expected to arrive in the near future.