The Ukrainian government still hopes to receive a tranche of about $0.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) program this year, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and his delegation are currently holding relevant negotiations in Washington, said First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Oleksiy Liubchenko.

"Just at this moment, the Minister of Finance is at the International Monetary Fund for negotiations in the United States. It is about last year's sums - twice $700 million of summer-autumn ...," Liubchenko said at a press conference at the Ukraine 30 forum on Wednesday.

According to him, all the obligations assumed by the state and duly authorised by the government "in terms of institutional changes, direct actions of the government" have been fulfilled.

"Therefore, we very much hope that this tranche will be, because giving up cheap money is pointless," the Deputy Prime Minister added.

At the same time, he stressed that he does not expect economic shocks in Ukraine if the IMF tranche does not enter the country by the end of the year.

On June 9, 2020, the IMF approved a new 18-month Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine for SDR3.6 billion (about $5 billion) with an immediate issue of $2.1 billion of the first tranche.