IMF Changes Lending Rules, Paving Way for Billions for Ukraine
- Change would allow lending to nations with high uncertainty
- Program for Ukraine would be IMF’s first for a nation at war
Russia’s invasion last year devastated its export economy and infrastructure, killing thousands of people and driving thousands more from their homes.
Photographer: Sergey Shestak/AFP/Getty Images
The International Monetary Fund approved changes to its lending rules, enabling it to help countries facing exceptionally high uncertainty and opening the way for support to war-torn Ukraine that’s expected to be worth about $15 billion.
The changes apply in situations “involving exogenous shocks that are beyond the control of country authorities and the reach of their economic policies, and which generate larger than usual tail risks” and address key barriers to designing programs for these nations, the Washington-based lender said in a statement Friday.