IMF mission chief lists two essential laws Ukraine must enact rapidly to meet loan terms
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Ukraine will have to enact two essential laws to meet International Monetary Fund requirements for the second review of its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program with Ukraine, the head of the IMF mission to Ukraine, Gavin Gray, said on Oct. 4.
For the program to continue, Ukraine needs to enact laws on the financial monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and on the resumption of tax audits, Gray said, according to a report by news agency Interfax-Ukraine.
The law on financial monitoring should restore the lifelong monitoring of PEPs, while amendments to Law No. 8401 on the abolition of the 2% single tax should restore tax audits, with the possibility of implementing a risk-based approach, Gray said.
"I think these are two key elements," he said at a press conference in Kyiv following the visit of the IMF delegation.
Gray emphasized that these decisions are expected in the coming weeks.
Additional talks are underway with the Ukrainian side on conceptual comments on the state 5-7-9% lending program.
The IMF mission chief noted that the recent adoption of the law on the resumption of the electronic declaration of property by officials, as well as amendments to the Budget Code, were important.
The fund has also praised progress in promoting the reform of anti-corruption bodies, but the organization expects the draft laws registered in the parliament to be finalized to increase the institutional autonomy of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), Gray said.
He added that Ukraine has met all the quantitative targets for the second review of the program set at the end of June, and this is an important starting point and an important achievement.
Overall, the IMF expects a positive decision on the revision of the EFF program in the first half of December — if all agreements are fulfilled.
The IMF reported earlier that it estimates the growth of the Ukrainian economy at the upper limit of expectations — 3%.
The fund has resumed the work of its permanent mission in Kyiv, which was suspended after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
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