Ukraine Needs $4 Billion a Month to Keep Government Operating: IMF

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva participates in a town hall discussion with civil society organizations at IMF headquarters in Washington on Oct. 10, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Ukraine needs between $3 billion and $4 billion a month in financial help to ensure its government does not collapse amid its ongoing conflict with Russia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

“Indeed, the Ukrainian authorities have done an impressive job in managing their economy through extremely difficult circumstances following Russia’s invasion,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at the Second Ministerial Roundtable Discussion for Support to Ukraine in Washington, D.C.

Despite this, Georgieva said Ukraine’s financing needs will remain strong throughout next year.

“This requires actions on the part of the authorities but importantly also the international community,” Georgieva said. “The external financing requirement will remain large as long as the war is ongoing. Our current thinking is that the financing requirements will be around US$3-US$4 billion per month in 2023.”

Georgieva noted that the billions of dollars in financial aid would go towards much-needed resources for basic social services, rebuilding of infrastructure in the country, and energy imports.

“We all have to be alive to the possibility that social and infrastructure requirements could push financing needs beyond this range, depending on the evolution of the war,” she noted.

Zelensky Appeals to Donors

The IMF’s estimate came on the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an appeal to international donors for billions of dollars in financial aid.

Zelensky said roughly $38 billion to $55 billion was needed to cover next year’s estimated budget deficit, and another $17 billion was needed to help the country begin rebuilding critical infrastructure, including schools, housing, and energy facilities.

“The more assistance Ukraine gets now, the sooner we’ll come to an end to the Russian war, and the sooner and more reliably we will guarantee that such a cruel war will not spread into other countries,” Zelensky said via video teleconference to finance ministers at the World Bank and IMF annual meetings on Wednesday.

The IMF and World Bank have already provided Ukraine with $35 billion in grant and loan financing this year, Georgieva said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has committed a total of $15.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was also in attendance at the IMF meeting on Wednesday, appeared to suggest that there will continue to be pressure on the United States to provide aid to Ukraine over the next year.

Yellen encouraged financial donors to “keep stepping up” to provide financing to the war-torn country while noting that Washington “recently reaffirmed our commitment to Ukraine through congressional approval of another $4.5 billion in grant assistance, which we will begin to disburse in the coming weeks.”

“This is in addition to the $8.5 billion in grants already disbursed, making the United States the largest provider of economic assistance to Ukraine,” Yellen said. “As Russia’s shameful actions continue, we must continue our joint efforts and begin planning for Ukraine’s needs in 2023.”

Reuters contributed to this report.