Sunday, October 26, 2008

IMF arranges $16.5B US loan for Ukraine

IMF arranges $16.5B US loan for UkraineUkrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, right, during a meeting with an International Monetary Fund delegation in Kiev on Oct. 17. (Olexander Prokopenko/Pool/AP)

The International Monetary Fund has reached an agreement in principle with Ukraine for a $16.5-billion US loan package to help the country meet its balance-of-payments needs.

Ukraine is facing problems because of the fall in the price of steel, its main export, global financial turmoil and related problems, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Sunday in a release.

The loan will support an economic program that is subject to approval by IMF management and the agency's executive board.

The country has a program intended to support its return to economic and financial stability.

"Consideration by the board would follow approval of legislative changes to Ukraine's bank resolution program," Strauss-Kahn said.

On Oct. 24, the IMF agreed to a similar loan to Iceland totalling $2.1 billion US after that country's banking system collapsed.

The IMF is in discussions with several other countries about possible financing needs and is providing confidential policy advice to governments in emerging and developing economies on how to adapt to the financial turmoil, the agency said.

With files from the Associated Press

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