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Ukrainian finmin eyes new IMF loan in March

Xinhua, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalia Jaresko said Tuesday that Kiev hopes to receive from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the first tranche of the recently agreed 17.5-billion-U.S.-dollar loan.

"I hope that we will get the first tranche" of 10.8 billion dollars in early March, Jaresko said at an international investment conference in Kiev.

The fund will be used to boost Ukraine's weak foreign exchange reserves and to repay the country's outstanding state debt, Jaresko said, adding that Ukraine will start negotiation with its foreign lenders immediately after receiving the aid.

"I believe that we can convince our creditors that Ukraine is a good borrower. And one day the time will come when Ukraine will be a good lender," Jaresko said.

The crisis-hit country, whose foreign exchange reserves stood at 6.4 billion dollars at the end of January, needs to repay about 11 billion dollars of foreign debt this year.

Last week, the visiting mission from the IMF announced that it has reached a preliminary agreement with Ukrainian authorities on allocation of a new loan for Kiev.

To come into force, the new deal should be approved by the IMF's board. Endi