- Britain bounce back in America's Cup as New Zealand suffer
- Turkey shuts down radio station in Armenia genocide row
- Global stock markets diverge as tech fears linger
- Tuchel targets trophies as England manager
- War piles pressure on roads, services in crisis-hit Beirut
- Israeli booths, equipment barred from defence show in France
- Tuchel hopes to deliver 'missing trophies' to England
- England 239-6 in second Test after Sajid strikes for Pakistan
- Britain off the mark in America's Cup as New Zealand suffer
- Lufthansa fined 'record' $4 mn for barring Jewish passengers
- First migrants arrive in Albania under contested Italy deal
- Zelensky rules out ceding Ukrainian land in Victory Plan, urges NATO invite
- Global stock markets fall as tech fears weigh
- Musk's X escapes tough EU competition rules
- Thomas Tuchel: Abrasive but effective
- Root could break 16,000-run barrier, says England great Cook
- Indian airplane forced to divert after latest bomb hoax
- Tuchel 'has to' win World Cup for England, says Shearer
- Duckett half-century as England make brisk reply to Pakistan's 366
- Israel strikes Hezbollah strongholds after rejecting Lebanon ceasefire
- India issues flood warnings as rain pounds south
- Saudi crown prince in Brussels for first EU-Gulf summit
- Thomas Tuchel appointed England manager: Football Association
- 'Age of Electricity' coming as fossil fuels set to peak: IEA
- Markets struggle after Wall Street losses as tech fears weigh
- Myanmar and China have lowest internet freedom, says study
- UK inflation hits three-year low, fuelling rate-cut hopes
- Pakistan tail frustrates England to reach 358-8 at lunch
- Discovery of Shackleton's lost shipwreck brought to big screen
- Markets mixed after Wall Street losses as tech fears weigh
- World heading into 'the Age of Electricity': IEA
- Spiralling Sudan bloodshed sparks refugee surge into Chad
- Lee wary of Ko challenge at BMW Ladies in South Korea
- Kenya Senate begins debate on deputy president impeachment
- Italy's migration policy under far-right Meloni
- Israel strikes Beirut after rejecting ceasefire
- New assisted dying bill introduced in UK parliament
- China set to post slowest quarterly growth this year: analysts
- The Bishnoi gang: the notorious syndicate Canada says is India's proxy
- Fake AI history photos cloud the past
- First defeat for Pochettino as US beaten 2-0 in Mexico
- 'Mysterious black balls' close Sydney beaches
- First loss for Poch as US beaten in Mexico
- South Korea's Han sells one million books after Nobel win
- Israel strikes south Beirut after Netanyahu vows 'no ceasefire'
- Yankees outlast Guardians for 2-0 lead in MLB playoff series
- Three elements that shaped Thierry Neuville's drive to win
- Rugby's red card rift splitting opinions across the world
- North Korea claims more than a million people joined army this week
- Asian markets track Wall Street losses on worries over tech rally
Ukraine gets draft approval for $2.2 bn IMF payout
Ukraine is set to receive a $2.2 billion payout from the IMF after successfully meeting the terms of an existing loan program, the Washington-based financial institution said Friday at the end of a five-day staff mission to the country.
The much-needed funds, which are still subject to approval by the International Monetary Fund's executive board, follow Ukraine's completion of the fourth review of its existing four-year IMF loan program, worth roughly $15.4 billion.
The agreement forms part of a $122 billion international support package designed to help Ukraine's economy amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country, now well into its third year.
"Performance under the program has remained strong despite the challenges of the war, with all quantitative performance criteria met, and one structural benchmark met and another implemented with a short delay," IMF Ukraine mission chief Gavin Gray said in a statement.
After taking a significant hit at the onset of the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine's economy has recovered somewhat, and is on track to grow by 3.2 percent this year, while inflation has continued to ease, according to a recent IMF estimate.
The IMF staff level agreement comes just over a month after the US Congress passed a stalled foreign aid package that included $61 billion meant to help Kyiv's forces push back against Russia.
"After a challenging period of liquidity strains earlier in the year due to external financing delays, external budget support for 2024 resumed and should continue to be disbursed on a timely basis to help maintain economic stability," Gray said.
"Fiscal financing needs remain very high in 2024," he continued, adding that the authorities were making progress on restructuring commercial external debt, which forms part of the IMF-backed reform program.
These reforms are "essential to create space for high priority expenditures and to help bring debt back to sustainable levels," he said.
J.Williams--AMWN