IMF, Ukraine in preliminary deal for US$17.5b aid

[BRUSSELS] The International Monetary Fund and conflict-torn Ukraine have reached a preliminary deal on a new financial rescue plan worth US$17.5 billion, the organisation's chief Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

"I am pleased to announce that the IMF team working in Kiev has concluded a staff-level agreement with the Ukrainian government on a new economic reform programme that would be supported by an extended fund facility of about US$17.5 billion from the IMF," she told a news conference in Brussels.

AFP