The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue its dialogue with Ukraine on the new Stand-By Arrangement in the coming weeks, the IMF Resident Representative Office in Kyiv has reported, with reference to Christopher Jarvis, Head of the IMF Mission to Ukraine, which ends its work in Ukraine on April 10.

"The mission has held fruitful discussions with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities related to those areas of economic policy to which the IMF could provide support under the Stand-By Arrangement. The key elements of the new program should be measures aimed at reducing the fiscal deficit and the current account deficit, and the reform of the banking and energy sectors in order to create conditions for sustainable economic growth and creating new jobs in Ukraine," Jarvis said.

"The mission has made good progress in discussing these issues. The dialog will continue in the coming weeks," he said.

On April 10, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said at a meeting with the IMF mission that the Ukrainian delegation was planning to visit Washington soon to discuss the prospects for cooperation with the fund.

The traditional spring meeting of the fund and the World Bank Group, where such talks could be held, will take place in Washington on April 19-21.

An informed source told Interfax-Ukraine that in addition to the previous requirements of the IMF to increase gas tariffs for households and to introduce greater flexibility of the exchange rate in Ukraine (which amid the deficit of the balance of payments will mean the devaluation of the hryvnia), the mission also noted the need to reduce the deficit of state finances this year.