IMF-Sized Hole Too Big for Ukraine’s Central Bank to Fill
- Bank has been replenishing reserves via FX-market purchases
- Bailout delays slowing efforts to rebuild financial defenses
A bank worker rolls up uncut sheets of ten and one hryvnia banknotes at the headquarters of the National Bank of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine.
Photographer: Vincent Mundy/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Hold-ups in Ukraine’s $17.5 billion bailout have left the central bank treading a lonely path to rebuild the nation’s financial defenses. While foreign reserves are creeping up, the former Soviet republic isn’t out of the woods yet.
Ukraine sealed an International Monetary Fund rescue last year to shore up the economy after political and economic shocks ravaged its stash of gold and currencies, as well as the hryvnia. Since then, only $6.6 billion has reached Kiev, with disbursements on hold for a year because of government wrangling and delays in reforms.