The International Monetary Fund has signed off on a $17.5bn (£11.8bn) four-year aid programme for Ukraine, the second attempt in less than a year to help the country avoid bankruptcy.
The programme includes an immediate payment of $5bn for general budget support to help stabilise Ukraine’s listing economy.
Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, said the aim was to provide immediate economic stabilisation for a country beset by conflict.
The programme was ambitious and involved risks, Lagarde said, “notably those stemming from the conflict” with pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. “With continued firm implementation, there is reasonably strong prospect of success.”
