The International Monetary Fund announced on Wednesday that it has secured a staff level agreement on a new four year, $8.2 billion package for Ukraine in response to the country's increasing fiscal strains during the war.
As the war against Russia continues to put a burden on Kyiv's budget, the IMF stated that the arrangement, which replaces the current $15.6 billion Extended Fund Facility granted in March 2023, is intended to assist Kyiv in maintaining macroeconomic stability and strengthening public finances.
Gavin Gray, an IMF official who oversaw the fund team's visit, stated in a statement that "the program is expected to catalyze large scale external support to close Ukraine's financing gaps," adding that the total financing shortfall is estimated to be roughly $136.5 billion for the 2026–2029 period.
According to Ukrainian officials, getting funding from other partners including a reparations loan requires an IMF program. In the fourth year of Moscow's war, Ukraine uses the majority of its earnings to repel Russian forces.
According to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the deal demonstrated how resilient her nation's economy is in spite of the conflict. She begged for assistance in approving the budget for the following year and promised to continue with reforms.
"The Government has prepared the 2026 State Budget in line with the framework of the new IMF program," she posted to X. "We count on the support of Members of Parliament during the vote on the budget as a whole."
After previous steps are finished and "adequate financing assurances from donors" are obtained, the new program may be presented to the fund's Executive Board for approval, according to the IMF.
After a conference last month failed to reach a consensus on a plan to use $162 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets in Europe as a loan for Kyiv, the European Union has stepped up efforts to get an agreement on a plan to utilise frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
The war was supposed to conclude in late 2025, according to the last IMF program, which was agreed upon in 2023 for a period of four years. Its prolongation renders earlier analyses, notably those pertaining to debt sustainability, old.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, stated on Tuesday that he was prepared to present a framework for ending the war that is supported by the United States.
However, Ukraine is concerned about being coerced into accepting a solution that is mostly based on Russian requirements.
According to the Finance Ministry, Ukraine has already received over $10.6 billion under its current program. Earlier in the day, the price of Ukrainian dollar bonds increased by more than one cent for each of the 2034, 2035, and 2036 issues. According to LSEG statistics, the 2034 was trading at about 45.40 cents on the dollar, while the other two were at 56 cents.
