IMF studies emergency financing options for Ukraine-Georgieva

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FILE PHOTO – The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, speaks during a joint press conference at the end of the Summit on Financing African Economies in Paris, France, May 18, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

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WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Ukraine has asked the International Monetary Fund for emergency financing, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday, adding that the IMF was exploring all options to help the war-torn country. war, including under its existing IMF loan. program.

Georgieva said in a statement that she had met with the executive directors of the IMF and “assured them that our staff will continue to work closely with the authorities to support Ukraine in any way possible.”

This includes exploring options for additional financial support, including under the approximately $2.2 billion remaining capacity of Ukraine’s existing $5 billion Standby Loan Agreement. .

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Georgieva also said the Fund was assessing potential implications for the functioning of the global financial system, commodity markets and countries with economic ties to the region.

“We stand ready to support our members as needed, in close coordination with our international partners,” including the World Bank, she said.

World Bank President David Malpass said on Thursday that the bank was also preparing “quick-disbursing” financing options for Ukraine. Read more

Earlier on Friday, Georgieva said Western sanctions against Russia will add to the economic impacts of the war in Ukraine, which are transmitted mainly through rising energy and grain prices, adding to inflation.

Georgieva, speaking at a Georgetown Law School event for Black History Month, also said greater uncertainty in financial markets caused by the conflict could lead to “exits capital from emerging markets, when we need the exact opposite – more funding to get there.”

She also said heightened regional tensions could impact economic activity in countries and regions surrounding Ukraine, such as Moldova and the Caucasus.

Russia is one of the world’s largest oil exporters and is also a major wheat exporter along with Ukraine, whose Black Sea ports have been closed to shipping.

Georgieva also said she was worried about her brother, who is married to a Ukrainian and is currently in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where heavy fighting is taking place.

“When I spoke to him, I felt like all – for his family of course, but for everyone there – waking up to the sound of shelling and being unsure what the next would bring,” said Georgieva, a Bulgarian economist who grew up during the country’s communist era.

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Reporting by David Lawder and Kankishka Singh Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Cynthia Osterman

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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