KIEV, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has resumed the first revision of the program for Ukraine, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on Monday.
The IMF office recalled that the mission is holding a series of online discussions with Ukrainian state officials on the latest economic developments, as well as measures and reforms necessary to complete the first revision.
The Ukrainian authorities and the IMF have reached an agreement on the so-called Stand-By Arrangement on May 22, 2020 to help the country battle the impact of COVID-19.
In June 2020, the IMF Board of Directors approved an 18-month stand-by program for Ukraine with a total volume of SDR 3.6 billion (about 5 billion U.S. dollars). In the same month, the country received the first tranche of 2.1 billion dollars.
Ukraine needs external funding due to the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy and a large debt burden. Earlier, the ministry of finance announced that Ukraine must pay off 16.1 billion dollars of its national debt in 2021. Enditem
