The IMF Board of Directors on Friday completed the fifth review of Ukraine’s EFF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, allowing Ukraine to receive about $1.1 billion (SDR834.9 million) of the 6th tranche, which will be used for budget support.
“Despite the challenging environment, Ukraine’s economy remains resilient and EFF performance remains strong. As of end-June, the authorities had met all quantitative performance criteria and achieved the four structural beacons,” the Fund said in a press release on its website.
After the discussion, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the total external financing under the 4-year program is raised from $122 billion to $151 billion in the base case and from $144 billion to $187 billion in the negative case due to new commitments under the G7 initiative to allocate $50 billion to Ukraine from the proceeds on frozen Russian assets (“Emergency Loans to Accelerate Ukraine’s Revenue Growth”, ERA).
It is stated that sustainable reforms, mobilization of domestic revenues and timely provision of external support are necessary to ensure macroeconomic stability, restore fiscal and debt sustainability and enhance institutional reforms.
It is specified that the structural beacons related to the abolition of tax exemptions, war-affected state-owned companies, customs reform and public investment management have been implemented, while the implementation of two structural beacons has been postponed to allow more time to complete the reform.
The IMF noted that the economy has been more resilient than expected in the first half of 2024, thanks to continued growth, moderate inflation, and adequate reserves backed by significant external support. However, the outlook for the rest of the year and 2025 has deteriorated since the fourth review, mainly due to prolonged Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and uncertainty over the war.
“Overall, the outlook remains exceptionally uncertain,” the Fund emphasized.
Georgieva said that all quantitative performance criteria are expected to be met at the end of September as well.
Real GDP percentage changes over previous period in 2014-2024
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France’s public debt at the end of the second quarter of 2024 rose to 112 percent of GDP, up from 110.5 percent at the end of March.
This was reported by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Research (Insee).
From April to June, the debt increased by €68.9 billion, reaching €3,228.4 billion.
You can learn more about public debt and the economy in the video on the YouTube channel of the Experts Club think tank: https://youtu.be/gq7twYrWuqE
Number of vacancies as of 30.06.2024 (thousand units) according to the data of the state employment center
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The Ministry of Commerce of China confirmed the intention to increase duties on imports of cars with large engines. Earlier it became known that Beijing is considering such a possibility along with additional restrictions on supplies of whiskey from Europe to the country.
The representative of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce He Yadong said during a press conference on Thursday that there are significant differences between China and the EU regarding the recent decision of the European Commission to impose additional duties on imports of Chinese electric cars to Europe. Beijing has invited EU representatives to visit China for further talks, he said.
According to He Yadong, the Ministry of Commerce is considering the possibility of increasing duties on imports of high-volume gasoline-powered cars into China and will make a decision after studying relevant factors.
If Beijing makes such a decision, German automakers will be the most seriously affected, said Dongshu Cui, president of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Total imports of cars with engines larger than 2.5 liters from the EU fell 13% to $10.2 billion in the first eight months of this year, CPCA data showed.
Number of unemployed people registered in public employment service as of 30.06.2024 (in thousands)
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