Ukraine secured preliminary approval for a long-delayed emergency payout from the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday after Kiev’s new government promised to bolster its anticorruption efforts and further tighten its budget.
The staff-level agreement paves the way for formal IMF board approval in July of a $1.7 billion bailout tranche and other international financing needed to keep the war-damaged economy afloat. But first, the government needs to deliver on promised overhauls.
“Steadfast implementation of structural and institutional reforms is now critical to turn the recent recovery into strong and sustainable growth,” said Ron van Rooden, the fund’s mission chief to Ukraine.
Mr. van Rooden said Kiev would need to show “unwavering determination in the fight against corruption…as a litmus test for the government’s ability to retain broad domestic and international support for its policies.”
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