Ukraine's external financing needs in 2024 are $3 bln above expected – IMF head
Ukraine has shown outstanding results in its economic management during the war, but its external financing needs in 2024 will be $3 billion higher than previously expected, and it is necessary to help Ukraine cope with this task, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva has said.
She said on Wednesday at the fourth meeting of the ministerial roundtable discussion to support Ukraine as part of the meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Marrakech, that they had determined that next year's needs would be slightly higher than they originally estimated, approximately $3 billion more. And she firmly believes that their investment in Ukraine is not charity, this is an investment.
Georgieva noted that this is an investment in the Ukrainian people, the economy of the region and this is a message that no war can be allowed to crush a nation.
The IMF chief reiterated that Ukraine had suffered terribly from Russia's unjust war, which is also crippling the global economy as it struggles to recover from the turmoil.
At the same time, she said, the preliminary results of the mission to prepare the second revision of the EFF program with the IMF show that the economic management of the country, despite the war conditions, is outstanding.
In particular, Georgieva pointed out, the economic recovery is proceeding faster than initially expected, and growth this year is likely to be at the upper end of the Fund's forecast - 3%.
The IMF head said they have also seen the continuation of structural reforms, which are difficult even in peacetime. In wartime they are even more difficult, but they are being implemented. We are seeing policies that protect macroeconomic and financial stability to such an extent that inflation in Ukraine is now measured single digits, Georgieva said.
She added that no less important is that the Central Bank of Ukraine has moved from a fixed exchange rate regime to a regime of managed flexibility from a position of strength.
This is all very good, but it will only be sustainable with our unwavering support, Georgieva emphasized.
