Summary: IMF staff will visit Ukraine shortly to review the country's implementation of reforms tied to an $8.1 billion lending arrangement. The mission will focus on widening the tax base, reducing informality in the economy and ensuring Kyiv mobilizes domestic financing to help meet large financing needs in addition to external donor support.
WASHINGTON, May 14 - International Monetary Fund staff will travel to Ukraine in the coming weeks for a program review of an $8.1 billion loan, the IMF's spokeswoman Julie Kozack said on Thursday. The visit will evaluate progress on economic reforms that Kyiv agreed to under the terms of the program.
Kozack told reporters that a key priority for the review is ensuring Ukraine moves to mobilize domestic financing to help meet a portion of its "very, very significant" financial needs. She noted that mobilizing internal resources is required in addition to the external support Ukraine has received from donors.
Central to the IMF's assessment is expansion of the tax base. Kozack emphasized the importance of bringing activities currently outside the formal tax system into it, pointing to the size of Ukraine's informal economy. She cited an IMF estimate that the informal sector accounts for about 45% of gross domestic product, and said reducing informality is part of the reforms agreed under the program.
According to Kozack, these comprehensive reforms are also necessary for Kyiv to pursue its stated goal of European Union membership and to unlock substantial external donor support. The IMF team will review whether the government is advancing the measures described in the program and assess progress toward those broader objectives.
The upcoming mission will therefore examine not only technical fiscal measures but also the broader reform commitments that link domestic policy changes - such as tax-base enlargement and formalization - to international assistance and political objectives.
Officials expect the review to consider how domestic revenue mobilization can offset part of the reliance on donors, and to evaluate steps taken so far to reduce the proportion of economic activity that remains informal. The outcome of the review will inform the IMF's judgment on program implementation and future financial support under the $8.1 billion arrangement.
Context limitations: The information available describes the mission's aims and the policy priorities highlighted by the IMF spokeswoman, but does not provide further detail on the timing of the mission beyond "in the coming weeks," nor on specific reform measures or metrics that will be used in the evaluation.