IMF mission OKs loan for Ukraine

KIEV - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Ukraine on Thursday agreed on a loan between $14 billion and $18 billion to the Ukrainian government.

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"The mission has reached a staff-level agreement with the authorities of Ukraine on an economic reform program that can be supported by a two-year stand-by arrangement with the IMF," Nikolay Gueorguiev, the IMF mission chief for Ukraine said in a statement.

The IMF authorities are expected to approve the exact amount of the loan in April, the statement said.

Gueorguiev said that the loan would become part of a broader international financial support to Ukraine worth up to $27 billion within the next two years.

The stand-by program is to keep Ukraine's struggling economy afloat amid the recent economic and political turbulence, it said.

The IMF started its mission in Ukraine on March 4 to make technical assessment of the country's economic situation and hold talks with the authorities over a possible bailout.