YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 14-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine. The arrangement amounts to the equivalent of SDR 2.8 billion (about US$3.9 billion, 139 percent of quota), IMF said in a statement, reports Armenpress.

The authorities’ economic program supported by the SBA will build on the progress made under the EFF arrangement. The SBA will provide an anchor for the authorities’ economic policies during 2019 and focus on maintaining macro-economic and financial stability. The program will focus on four priorities: (i) continuing the ongoing fiscal consolidation to keep public debt on a downward path; (ii) further reducing inflation, while maintaining a flexible exchange rate regime; (iii) strengthening the financial sector, promoting asset recovery, and reviving bank lending; and (iv) advancing a focused set of structural reforms, particularly to improve tax administration, privatization and governance.

The approval of the SBA enables the immediate disbursement of SDR 1 billion (about US$1.4 billion). The remainder will be available upon completion of semi-annual reviews.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan