IMF and Ukraine reach credit agreement worth $15.6 billion.

Ukraine and the IMF have agreed on a $15.6 billion loan package to shore up government finances and reassure allies of strong economic policies. Ukraine's finance ministry has signed a four-year loan program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first 12 to 18 months will focus on helping Ukraine close its budget deficit and alleviate pressure to finance spending through printing money at the central bank. The remainder of the program will focus on supporting Ukraine's bid for European Union membership and post-war reconstruction. The IMF said that the Ukrainian authorities demonstrated their commitment to healthy economic policy and met all agreed upon goals during a preliminary consultation.

The agreement is expected to help mobilize large-scale concessional financing from Ukraine's international donors and partners over the duration of the program. Before the war, Ukraine had made progress in reforming its banking system and making government contracting more transparent, but still ranked 122 out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.