Ukraine’s economic pressures
With Ukraine’s economy on the brink of disaster, the International Monetary Fund agreed a $17.5 billion package for Ukraine in February. Some think this programme will save Ukraine’s troubled economy: the promise of an immediate injection of $5 billion caused a rebound for the Ukrainian currency. Having just days before faced a near collapse, falling to 40 hryvnia to the dollar, it rose back up to 22 hryvnia to the dollar. The Ukrainian parliament passed a dramatic reform package on March 2. Total funding for the programme may amount to $40 billion, including $7.5 billion leveraged from other sources, and supplementary funding is possible.
However, others point out that the IMF deal provides only $6 billion in new money. Further, it was already out of date on arrival, because GDP fell more than expected in 2014, by 6.9 per cent rather than the 5 per cent forecast. As of March, the IMF was predicting a further fall of 5.5 percent for GDP in 2015.
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