US Deputy Under Secretary for International Finance Brent Neiman is confident that the IMF will approve a new $1.1B tranche for Ukraine.

The IMF approved the tranche’s provision at the working level on September 10, but the Fund’s executive board still needs to give its final approval.

“Ukraine has already undergone several reviews of the IMF program exceptionally well and completed the fifth review about a month ago. It has done well and fulfilled all the structural beacons and indicators that had to be fulfilled over the summer. Therefore, I think we will soon approve the review, and Ukraine will continue successfully implementing the program,” Neiman added.

The IMF’s four-year program, with a total volume of $15.6B, is essential to Ukraine’s economic support. Due to the shelling of Ukraine’s energy sector, the Fund expects an economic slowdown in the year’s second half.

“The economic growth forecast for the year has been reduced to 3%, and inflation has increased. Of course, these are real difficulties, but Ukraine can manage well in challenging conditions and implement the IMF program well,” Neiman summarized.