KIEV: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team arrived in Kiev on Tuesday after the new Ukrainian government resolved the prolonged political crisis that had stalled the release of vital aid.
The team’s visit was long awaited in the cash-strapped former Soviet country as it grapples with the costs of a two-year conflict in the pro-Russian separatist east and attempts to dig out of a dramatic economic swoon.
The fund approved a new $17.5 billion loan programme last year, which included an initial lump payment of $5 billion, and provided for the subsequent release of $1.7 billion every three months.
The IMF has been frustrated by the slow adoption of painful belt-tightening measures that were being resisted by populist parties and damaged the approval ratings of leaders who rose to power in the wake of Ukraine’s February 2014 pro-EU revolt.
The conflict was settled in April when Ukraine’s then prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk submitted his resignation and was replaced by Volodymyr Groysman.
The protégé of pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko has since vowed to keep strictly to the measures prescribed by the IMF.