Changes of IMF lending policy toward Ukraine to set precedent for other countries

IMF’s decision to issue subsequent tranches of a loan to Ukraine in case of its default on debt repayments will entail similar demands from other countries with overdue debts, the Russian Ambassador to the EU, the Vladimir Chizhov said on Friday in an interview with Rossiya’24 news channel.

“Just change or twist these rules for Ukraine’s sake and a long line of countries from different continents will form demanding the same sort of things,” he said.

The IMF is currently revising the rules for the issuance of loans to the countries with outstanding sovereign debts. Gerry Rice, an official spokesman for the IMF, confirmed this on October 29, saying the IMF board of governors would consider the problem very shortly.

The rules in effect at present prohibit crediting the countries that have overdue debts to other countries.
The Russian Finance Ministry perceives a connection between the change of IMF rules and the Ukrainian debt, Minister Anton Siluanov said earlier.

“The IMF is going to drop off the practice of not lending to the countries, which have overdue to debts to official creditors,” he said. “The haste in which this is done proves the moment for discussing the Fund’s regulations coincides with a second review of the Ukrainian programme by the IMF and it has been chosen on purpose.”

sourse