The IMF mission visited Ukraine on November 3-17 to review economic progress to determine whether the fund allocates the next tranche of up to $1.3 billion to Kiev before the end of the year.
Rooden said that Kiev will likely receive the third assistance tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the beginning of 2017.
“This year is physically not possible. One of the things that we want to see is the adoption of the government budget which is on the agenda of the Rada next week,” Rooden said. “So hopefully in the beginning of the year, once all the conditions have been met, we'll be able to take the review to the board.”
The mission noted in a statement that the Ukrainian economy is showing signs of recovery and growth is expected to reach 1.5 percent in 2016. However, per capita GDP remains at the second lowest in Central and Eastern Europe.
At the same time, Ukraine's $3 billion debt to Russia will be taken into consideration when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is making its decision on the next tranche to Kiev, IMF’s mission chief for Ukraine added.
"It will always be taken into consideration because there are arrears on the bonds so we keep continuing to urge both sides to work on finding a solution on the restructuring of the bonds in line with the parameters of the program," Rooden told reporters.
In September, the executive board of the IMF agreed to provide the new $1 billion tranche of financial aid to Ukraine despite the country being unable to settle the debt with Russia.
The $3-billion loan was secured by the government of then-President Viktor Yanukovych in late 2013.
Kiev should accelerate reform of inefficient state-owned enterprises, tackle corruption and continue fiscal consolidation to ensure debt sustainability, the statement said.
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