MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already issued its first $5-billion installment of financial aid to Ukraine, the head of the IMF mission to Ukraine, Nikolay Gueorguiev, said Thursday.
"The first tranche of five billion has already been issued yesterday, in total, up to $10 billion will be allocated by the end of 2015," he said at a conference call.
On Wednesday, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the money will be used to stabilize the country's economy and support its immediate policy reforms.
IMF's $5-billion credit is part of a series of bailout loans aiming to finance Ukraine amid deep economic crisis in the country in return for "deep and wide-ranging policy reforms."
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed off on a number of measures necessary to meet the IMF loan approval, including the drastic reduction of government spending and changes to the tax system.
Ukraine found itself on the verge of recession following an almost year-long military conflict in its eastern Donbas region.
