IMF loans have turned out to be the most expensive for Ukraine.

As of October 2023, the average cost of servicing all loans granted to Ukraine by external official creditors is about 2.1% per annum, said former NBU executive Bohdan Danylyshyn. According to him, IMF loans are the most expensive borrowings taken by Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Their maintenance in 2023 will cost about 8% per annum.

For comparison, the loan from France in November 2022 has a fixed yield of 1.04% per annum, the loan from Japan in June 2022 – 1%, and the loan from Canada in April 2023 – 1.5%.

However, the IMF’s share in helping Ukraine is small. In 2023, Ukraine received two tranches, of $2.7B and $890M, from the fund and expects a new tranche of $900M. In the second half of 2024, Ukraine must return $1.925B to the IMF, of which $408M is interest. The cost of IMF loans is increasing due to the increase in interest rates by the world’s central banks.