IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva offered words of support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyduring his first visit to the Fund Monday (Dec. 11) in Washington, DC.
“I’m incredibly happy to host President Zelenskiy here at the IMF. Especially given the exceptionally strong performance of the Ukrainian economy despite the war still going on in the country. We have worked very closely with the economic team of Ukraine over the last weeks. And today we completed the second review of our program under the banner of strength in economic performance in Ukraine. Growth this year is likely to be 4.5%. This last quarter, 9.3%. Congratulations for that. Inflation in Ukraine continues to go down to 5.1% in November. Many countries around the world envy you for that achievement. And the governance of the country strengthens from month to a month. The fight against corruption for having very strong support of society for the economic policies is very impressive. We will continue to work closely with Ukraine and we will continue to call on those who support Ukraine to remain steadfast in their financial support. Thank you, President Zelenskiy,” Georgieva said at the end of their meeting.
Earlier in the day, The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the 2023 Article IV Consultation and completed the Second Review of the EFF arrangement for Ukraine. The completion of the second review enables the authorities to immediately draw an amount of about US$900 million (SDR 663.9 million).
“Thank you so much for Kristalina. Thank you for having us. Now for this invitation, we had very constructive dialog and Ukraine demonstrated its interests. And I'm happy that we have such societies as strong people. And our team, we really demonstrated that we can reform our country during the war, and I think that is a huge success for us. The second really increasing GDP during the war. Yes. And we have more jobs, more people come back. That's great. From our side, we're thankful for these our warriors and, of course, U.S. partners and European partners for our air defending shield. It really helps. And we will continue. And we will continue to do this and to make our cities more secure. It's very important that also we have we have good dialog and we are are thankful to IMF Kristalina that I assured now. And she is, that you will support us financially. It's very important during this challenging, challenging period. It means that Ukraine is strong and not alone. Thank you so much.,” Zelenskiy told reporters following the meeting.
The IMF last month announced a staff-level agreement with Ukraine on updated economic and financial policies, finding that the Ukrainian economy continued to show "remarkable resilience" despite Russia's invasion in February 2022.
The $15.6 billion arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is part of an international $115-billion financial package, for the same four-year period, which is intended to support the authorities’ policies to stabilize the economy as the war continues and entrench more expansive reforms to speed recovery once war winds down.
Recent developments were pointing to a stronger-than-expected economic recovery in 2023 and continued growth in 2024.
Zelenskiy is also scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden and top congressional officials while in Washington as he seeks to shore up support for continued US security assistance to help Kyiv continue its fight against Russia's invasion.
A copy of the full transcript is available at IMF.org