Kyiv, Feb 28 (UNI) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a new four-year loan programme for Ukraine worth $8.1 billion, which is currently grappling with a massive budget deficit, and a virtually crippled economy amid its ongoing war with Russia.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Fund said that $1.5bn would be disbursed immediately, though noted that the sum was acutely short of covering Kyiv’s actual requirements.
According to IMF estimates, Ukraine faces a budget deficit of $52bn in 2026 alone, rising to a cumulative $136.5bn over the next four years. The Fund added that the shortfall is expected to be covered through pledged donor support and relief stemming from debt operations, pointing to the EU, and the G7 as key potential contributors.
The global money lender’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva has warned that the risks “are exceptionally high” and Kyiv’s ability to repay depends on the “continued support by the international community,” as well as its “determination in implementing… structural reforms.”
The IMF has in recent months pressed Kyiv to undertake politically, and economically sensitive measures, including phasing out electricity and heating subsidies, which has been one of its biggest pillars of social support.
In October, Bloomberg reported that the Fund had also urged Ukraine to consider devaluing its currency, the hryvnia, as part of efforts to stabilise public finances.
At the same time, a substantially larger €90bn ($106bn) interest-free loan for 2026-27 pledged by the EU remains stalled due to a veto by Hungary. Budapest blocked the proposal earlier this month, accusing Kyiv of jeopardising Hungary’s energy security by deliberately attacking its Soviet-era Druzhba oil pipeline, halting transit.
Hungary and Slovakia have announced plans for a joint investigation into the disruption of the pipeline, which ceased operations in late January. Ukrainian authorities said the route had been damaged in Russian strikes, an allegation denied by Moscow, with officials in Budapest and Bratislava also expressing doubts that the pipeline sustained such damage.
