KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a $5 billion (4.05 billion pounds) loan package at a board meeting on June 5 and the first tranche of $1.9 billion to be disbursed the following day, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told Reuters on Friday.
Ukraine needs the loans to weather an economic shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Gross domestic product could fall by 12% in the second quarter of this year, according to a preliminary estimate, Shmygal said in an interview.
He also said the government would allow wheat exporters to export freely for the next two months.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Matthias Williams; Editing by David Goodman)
