Ukraine

Ukraine's central bank could start cutting its key rate by one to two percentage points in coming months, notes from the central bank's committee for monetary policy showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The bank has kept its main rate unchanged at 25% since last summer, when it increased the rate to tame growing consumer prices fuelled by Russia's war in Ukraine. Recent economic and inflation trends offer grounds for cautious optimism, the central bank said, adding that the majority of members of its monetary policy committee assumed that rate cuts might start earlier than initially forecast.

The Ukrainian government will provide state guarantees to revitalise its export credit agency, a move designed to help domestic exporters and lift the economy after 14 months of war, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Before Russia's full-scale invasion in February last year, Ukraine's economy was export-led, but Moscow's war in Ukraine has disrupted supply chains and logistics. "We are intensifying the work of the export credit agency. We want as many Ukrainian businesses as possible to export their products abroad," Shmyhal told a government meeting.

Ukraine secured promises of $5 billion in additional funding to support its ongoing fight against Russia amid "fruitful meetings" in Washington this week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told reporters on Friday, Reuters reported. Shmyhal met with representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank as well as top U.S. officials, on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

The World Bank on Wednesday said it would finance $200 million to help fix Ukraine's energy and heating infrastructure, with partners and others to provide another $300 million in additional funding as the project expands, Reuters reported. The $200 million grant will be used to make emergency repairs to Ukraine's transition transformers, mobile heat boilers and other emergency critical equipment, the World Bank said in a statement. Read more.

Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund have agreed on a $15.6 billion loan package aimed at shoring up government finances severely strained by Russia’s invasion and leveraging even more support by reassuring allies that Ukraine is pursuing strong economic policies and fighting corruption, the Associated Press reported.

Ukraine's central bank said on Thursday it would keep its main interest rate steady at 25% as inflation remained high so far this year, Reuters reported. The bank has kept the interest rate at 25% since June 2022 as it sought to keep inflation under control following Russia's large-scale invasion, which has disrupted supply chains and battered the economy.

Ukraine won a significant boost in its attempt to set aside a $3 billion defaulted bond after the UK Supreme Court ruled that judges need to consider the backdrop of Russia’s campaign of threatening behavior in the run-up to the annexation of Crimea, Bloomberg News reported. Britain’s top court declared that a judge should pore over Russian attempts to strong-arm Ukraine into issuing the bond, giving the green light to a full-blown London trial.

Ukraine's gross domestic product fell by 26% in February after a 32% drop in January, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a statement that economic activity had recovered in February because of a better situation in the energy sector and a lower energy deficit. "The 'energy war' won by Ukraine added to the optimism of businesses, which improved their sentiment about the future and intensified its activities," Svyrydenko said.

The World Bank on Friday announced $2.5 billion in additional grant financing from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID )to support Ukraine's budget and maintain essential services, Reuters reported. The latest financing under the World Bank's Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine(PEACE) project lifts the total to $20.6 billion and will support salaries in core government functions and sectors such as healthcare and education while allowing Kyiv to pay pensions and support internally displaced people.

Ukraine's monthly consumer price inflation quickened to 0.8% in January compared with the previous month, driven by higher food prices, the State Statistics Service said on Thursday, Reuters reported. It said in a statement that food prices rose by 1.4% last month because of increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. Monthly inflation stood flat at 0.7% in November and December 2022.