London, United Kingdom. Ukraine expects its new $8.2 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund to be formally approved within weeks, according to its debt management chief. The programme would replace an existing $15.6 billion IMF facility as the war with Russia approaches its fifth year.
Programme timeline and expected approval
In an interview with Reuters, Ukraine’s long-serving debt management head, Yuriy Butsa, said formal IMF Board sign-off should come soon.
“I would expect it in a matter of weeks,” Butsa said while attending meetings in London. “I think February is still doable in terms of a timeline.”
The IMF declined to comment on the potential timing of a formal approval.
Budget needs and external support
The new agreement is expected to help Kyiv maintain economic stability and public spending amid an anticipated near $140 billion budget shortfall over the next few years.
Since Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine has required hundreds of billions of dollars of support from Western governments and institutions, along with a more than $20 billion sovereign debt restructuring.
Butsa said Ukraine was waiting for the new IMF programme, but had already agreed on numbers for this year and next year and would cover the budget deficit from existing commitments. He also praised the EU’s new €90 billion loan.
Ceasefire expectations and financial pressures
Butsa said he was not getting carried away by talk of a potential US-brokered ceasefire ahead of the February 24 anniversary of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that the United States needed to put more pressure on Russia if it wanted the war to end by summer, adding it was unclear whether Moscow would attend US-brokered peace talks next week.
“We need to plan everything cautiously, we cannot get over-optimistic about any news flow,” Butsa said, adding that a ceasefire would not end financial pressures.
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