Washington, May 1 (IANS): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday that its board has approved a two- year financial aid programme totalling $17 billion for Ukraine to support its economy.
The IMF programme, which aimed at helping the country to restore macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth, is expected to unlock additional international assistance of about $15 billion over the same two-year period, Xinhua reported.
The decision of the IMF executive board cleared the way for an immediate release of the first tranche of loan of about 3.19 billion dollars to Ukraine's government. And about 2 billion dollars of the disbursement will be allocated to support the budget.
The IMF said the second and third disbursements will be based on "bi-monthly reviews and performance criteria" and that the remainder of the programme will be subject to "standard quarterly reviews and performance criteria".