The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved an additional $1.3 billion in emergency funds for Ukraine stemming from hardships from the Russian invasion and related gaps in grain production and sales.
The UN financial agency said in an announcement that the financing "will help close a financing gap from shortfalls in grain exports."
It was disbursed under a new "food shock window" under a rapid-financing instrument set up to help Ukraine meet an "urgent balance of payment needs," the IMF said.
"More than seven months after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the humanitarian and economic toll remains massive, resulting in large and urgent fiscal and external financing needs," the IMF said.
It also credited Ukrainian authorities with "having maintained an important degree of macro-financial stability in these extremely challenging circumstances" since the unprovoked Russian invasion began in late February, following eight years of lower-level conflict between Russia-backed separatists and Ukraine's government in the eastern part of the country.
A Russian blockade on Ukrainian ports along the Black Sea coast has further hurt Ukraine, and a Turkish- and UN-mediated deal to enable Ukraine to renew its wheat and other grain shipments has foundered.
The IMF said it predicted that Ukraine's economy will contract by around 35 percent in 2022 year on year, compounding financial woes.
