Ukraine aims for $15-20b IMF loan by year-end

Ukraine aims to strike a deal for a $15-$20 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund before year-end to help shore up its war-torn economy, the country's central bank governor Kyrylo Shevchenko told Reuters.

Battered by Russia's invasion launched on February 24, Ukraine faces a 35 per cent-45 per cent economic contraction in 2022 and a monthly fiscal shortfall of $5 billion and is heavily reliant on foreign financing from its Western partners.

Shevchenko, 49, speaking during his visit to London, also said he hoped to agree on a swap line with the Bank of England "within weeks", though he did not specify the amount.

Kyiv had already submitted its request to the IMF, the governor said, and was now in consultation with the fund over the new financing that he hoped would provide as much as $20 billion over two or three years in form of a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) or an Extended Fund Facility (EFF).