New IMF program should focus more on economic recovery, EU integration – Ukraine's National Bank official

The continuation of high security risks and significant defense spending in 2026 complicates the ninth review of Ukraine's current Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the International Monetary Fund due to the design specifics of such programs. Therefore, a potential new program – with a longer planning horizon – has a much greater chance of meeting all the IMF's internal parameters, said Serhiy Nikolaychuk, First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).

"If we look at the outlook for the coming years, this program should focus more on creating the conditions for economic recovery, with a strong emphasis on European integration," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, in the financial sector, this means implementing ambitious plans to build financial market infrastructure that will provide a foundation for economic recovery.

Nikolaychuk stressed that any potential new program should be a logical continuation of the current one and will remain focused on ensuring macroeconomic and financial stability. At the same time, it should help consolidate the efforts of international partners to finance the budget deficit and defense expenditures.

He also emphasized the importance of preserving the program's design as part of a broader financial package with international partners, where the IMF plays a leading role in uniting efforts.

As reported earlier, following the eighth review of the EFF program with the IMF in late June, the ninth and tenth reviews – initially scheduled for late August and early December this year – were merged into a single ninth review, now planned for the fourth quarter of 2025.

NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy announced on August 21 that an IMF mission is expected to visit Kyiv in the coming weeks to assess whether there is a need for a new program and to prepare for the ninth and tenth reviews.