Ukraine's negotiation process with external commercial creditors is credible - IMF

 The process of settling Ukraine's external debt with private creditors is credible, said Alfred Kammer, Director of the European Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at a briefing in Washington on Friday.

He said this was an important element of the fund's (Extended Financing Facility) program, so that ultimately, within the framework of the fund's program, they would see that debt stability in Ukraine would be achieved.

Commenting on the fund's deterioration of Ukraine's GDP growth forecast for 2025 from 2.5% to 2%, Kammer explained this by the lower growth momentum carried over from 2024.

This is a reflection of the bombing of energy infrastructure, which is slowing the economy. It also reflects a very limited labor market, as well as ongoing uncertainty about the duration of the war and how the war will develop and affect the economy, he noted.

At the same time, the official noted that the Ukrainian economic team - the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the National Bank - is doing an extraordinary job to maintain macroeconomic stability in these conditions, as well as to prepare the economy for the period of post-war reconstruction.

And important for this is the need to work on a medium-term national revenue strategy, because Ukraine will need revenues to provide all the necessary services of a modern state and support reconstruction, Kammer added.