Sydney, 24/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s role in helping Ukraine through its current difficulties was discussed on the fringes of the G20 Finance Summit in Sydney, Australia, on 22 and 23 February.
Australian Finance Minister Joe Hockey said it was clear that there would be economic consequences to the developments in the Ukraine and the IMF is the best prepared institution for helping transition countries. French Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici said that there was good will for Ukraine and the financial institutions were being mobilised. Transition economies like Ukraine, he added, can and must count on support from the IMF to decide upon and implement their reform agenda. There is broad consensus that the world will help Ukraine achieve stability, and institutions like the IMF are the best way for Ukraine to put its economy in order, said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. He was echoed by IMF Director General Christine Lagarde, who said that, if the Ukraine authorities requested aid from the IMF, be it in terms of economic policy advice, financial support or talks about economic reforms, then the IMF was prepared to help.
Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU was prepared to commit to substantial financial aid when a democratic, political solution had been found and when the new government had got seriously down to institutional and economic reforms. He said the EU was making a needs assessment of the scale of aid and would be able to meet this historic challenge. As far as the EU is concerned, he said, it was important to provide a credible European perspective to Ukrainians, who have demonstrated their commitment to European values.
In July 2010, the IMF granted Ukraine a €15.3 billion credit line, only €3.4 billion of which has been released so far (no cash has been released since December 2010), because the IMF says the country has not introduced the necessary reforms. Ukraine's interim president, Olexandr Torchynov, announced on 23 February that Ukraine was on the brink of bankruptcy. It has loan instalments totalling nearly USD 14 billion to pay by the end of the year. (CG/transl.fl)