Current:Home > FinanceIMF expects continuing US support for Ukraine despite Congress dropping aid-LoTradeCoin
IMF expects continuing US support for Ukraine despite Congress dropping aid
View Date:2024-12-23 21:33:41
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials from the International Monetary Fund say they expect the United States will continue playing its key role in amassing multinational support that has helped keep Ukraine’s economy afloat during Russia’s invasion.
That’s despite Congress recently passing a short-term funding package that averted a U.S. government shutdown but dropped $6 billion in aid to Ukraine. It’s not clear if, when or how that aid installment might be restored.
The U.S. has already sent or committed $69.5 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to the Institute for the World Economy in Kiel, Germany.
“ President Biden has made an announcement ... that he is fully committed to supporting Ukraine,” Uma Ramakrishnan, IMF European department deputy director, said at a news conference Wednesday in Kyiv. ”And so from our standpoint, the baseline assumption remains that the U.S. remains committed.”
She added that “it is premature for us to comment on what will materialize or not, because we have to wait for the process to play out.”
Officials from the Washington-based IMF also said Ukraine’s economy was showing surprising resilience despite widespread damage from Russia’s war.
The Ukrainian economy has shown improving growth and lower inflation this year after the disastrous loss in 2022 of around a third of its output, including from war destruction and Russian occupation of key industrial areas.
Key to that improvement has been foreign financial aid, which gets less attention than military supplies but helps Ukraine keep paying civil servants and pensioners. It also has helped keep people’s savings and salaries from vanishing due to price spikes.
The budget aid means Ukraine’s government can avoid using the central bank to print money to cover its bills — an emergency necessity it turned to in the first days of the invasion, but a practice that can lead to runaway inflation.
Annual inflation has fallen from 26% in January to 8.6% in August. The central bank on Monday was confident enough in the stability of Ukraine’s currency to drop a fixed exchange rate imposed at the start of the war.
The IMF is lending Ukraine $15.6 billion over four years. That should clear the way for a total of $115 billion from donor countries that is expected to cover the government’s financing needs. The IMF loan helps bring in funds from other donors who are reassured by the IMF’s review of Ukraine’s economic practices and requirements to improve governance and fight corruption.
Ukraine is “making good progress” on passing legislation on a specialized anti-corruption prosecutor, said IMF Ukraine mission chief Gavin Gray. Bills were introduced in September ahead of a December deadline under the loan agreement.
IMF loan agreements with Ukraine before the war had stalled due to lack of progress in curbing corruption and the influence of politically influential business moguls. These oligarchs have kept a low profile since the invasion, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired several top government officials suspected of misconduct to show he is serious in fighting corruption.
Ukraine’s economy “is certainly adapting to the war environment and showing remarkable resilience,” with increasing consumer demand boosting growth, deputy mission chief Nathan Epstein said.
He added that economic growth should be at the upper end of the IMF forecast of 1%-2% this year.
___
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the IMF loan package is over four years, not three.
veryGood! (619)
Related
- NFL Week 10 injury report: Live updates on active, inactive players for Sunday's games
- John Stamos says he caught ex Teri Copley cheating on him with Tony Danza: 'My worst nightmare'
- Dolphins, explosive offense will be featured on in-season edition of HBO's 'Hard Knocks'
- Shot fired, protesters pepper sprayed outside pro-Israel rally in Chicago suburbs
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Something Corporate
- Diana Nyad marks anniversary of epic Cuba-Florida swim, freeing rehabilitated sea turtle in the Keys
- Why 'unavoidable' melting at Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' could be catastrophic
- Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness taking leave of absence because of wife's seizure
- Olivia Munn Says She “Barely Knew” John Mulaney When She Got Pregnant With Their Son
- Stranger Things' Joe Keary and Chase Sui Wonders Have Very Cheeky Outing
Ranking
- The View's Sara Haines Walks Off After Whoopi Goldberg's NSFW Confession
- Swift bests Scorsese at box office, but ‘Killers of the Flower Moon” opens strongly
- Zach Edey named unanimous AP preseason All-American, joined by Kolek, Dickinson, Filipowski, Bacot
- Why 'unavoidable' melting at Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' could be catastrophic
- Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says next year will be his last in office; mum on his plans afterward
- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney apologizes for mental-health joke after loss at Miami
- Imprisoned Kremlin foe Navalny refuses to leave his cell and skips a court hearing as a protest
- Brooklyn Org’s rebrand ditches ‘foundation’ from its name for being ‘old’ and ‘controlling’
Recommendation
-
Multi-State Offshore Wind Pact Weakened After Connecticut Sits Out First Selection
-
AP Top 25: Georgia is No. 1 for 19th straight poll, 3rd-best streak ever; Alabama in top 10 again
-
Lupita Nyong'o Pens Message to Her “Heartbreak” Supporters After Selema Masekela Breakup
-
A Texas-sized Game 7! Astros, Rangers clash one final time in ALCS finale
-
Bears fire offensive coordinator Shane Waldron amid stretch of 23 drives without a TD
-
In 'I Must Be Dreaming,' Roz Chast succeeds in engaging us with her dreams
-
Search for suspect in fatal shooting of Maryland judge continues for a fourth day
-
Saints quarterback Derek Carr's outbursts shows double standard for Black players