World Bank to give USD 3 billion emergency aid package to Ukraine, IMF also to help

The World Bank has announced Tuesday that it is preparing a USD 3 billion aid package for war-torn Ukraine in the coming months. On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is soon considering requests for emergency financing. 

Reports suggest that this support package by World Bank will include at least USD 350 million in immediate funds to the war-torn country. The announcement was made by World Bank President David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in a joint IMF-World Bank Group statement on Tuesday.

The first tranche of the aid will be submitted to the Board for approval this week. It will be followed by USD 200 million in fast-disbursing support for health and education, World Bank President Malpass said. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank in recent days had pledged to provide further support to Ukraine and have moved quickly to put that promise into motion.

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The expansion of an existing loan would provide 'budget support' to Ukraine, leaving no restrictions on how President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government can spend it, the sources told Reuters. The IMF, which has an ongoing USD 2.2 billion financing program with the country through June, will consider Ukraine's latest request for emergency financing as early as next week, the statement said. 

The plan would bring World Bank lending to Ukraine in the past year alone to over USD 1.5 billion, including loans for Covid-19 response and vaccinations, power grid improvements and education. World Bank financing to Ukraine has totaled USD 2.3 billion since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 and nearly USD 14 billion since the country joined the institution in 1992.

(With Reuters and other Agency Inputs)