- Germany battles to secure stricken 'Russian shadow fleet' oil tanker
- Malala Yousafzai 'overwhelmed and happy' to be back in Pakistan
- 'Education apartheid': schooling in crisis in Pakistan
- Smart glasses enter new era with sleeker designs, lower prices
- Supreme Court looks poised to uphold TikTok ban
- 2024 hottest recorded year, crossed global warming limit
- Germany reports foot-and-mouth disease in water buffalo
- US hikes reward for Maduro arrest after 'illegitimate' swearing-in
- Robots set to move beyond factory as AI advances
- Pro-Russian disinformation makes its Bluesky debut
- UK gas reserves 'concerningly low', warns biggest supplier
- 2024 warmest year on record for mainland US: agency
- Meta policy reversal puts question mark on future of fact-checking
- Meta policy reversal puts question mark on furure of fact-checking
- Strong US jobs report sends stocks sliding, dollar rising
- US hiring beats expectations in December to cap solid year
- UK gas reserves 'concerningly low': Biggest supplier
- Global stocks mostly fall before US jobs data
- Ubisoft: the 'Assassin's Creed' maker targeted by suitors
- Stock markets drift lower as US jobs data looms
- Pakistan flight departs for Paris after EU ban lifted
- Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to visit native Pakistan for girls' summit
- AI comes down from the cloud as chips get smarter
- Tajikistan bets on giant dam to solve electricity crisis
- Uruguay bucks 2024 global warming trend
- Last 2 years crossed 1.5C global warming limit: EU monitor
- Japan 'poop master' gives back to nature
- US Supreme Court to hear TikTok ban case
- US Fed's December rate cut should be its last for now: official
- Paris Hilton among celebrities to lose homes in LA fires
- Airbus boosts plane deliveries in 2024
- Ubisoft reviews restructuring options, postpones new Assassin's Creed
- Lamborghini sets new sales record amidst hybrid push
- Lebanon army chief Aoun becomes president after two-year vacancy
- US emissions stagnated in 2024, challenging climate goals: study
- Lebanon army chief short of required majority in first round of president vote
- Global stock markets mixed tracking US rates outlook
- Lebanon meets to finally elect president after two-year vacancy
- Celebrities flee Los Angeles fires, lose houses as Hollywood events scrapped
- Japan startup hopeful ahead of second moon launch
- Ukraine allies to hold last defence meet before Trump takes office
- Myanmar military adopts anti-junta fighters' drone tactics
- CES tech looks to help world's aging population
- Rubber tappers forge sustainable future in Amazon
- US astronauts upbeat seven months into eight-day mission
- Extreme weather, suburban sprawl fuel LA's wildfires
- Political chess or true beliefs? Zuckerberg's surprise Trump pivot
- US Fed officials concerned over 'stalled' disinflation, tariffs: minutes
- Celebrities flee Los Angeles fires as Hollywood events scrapped
- Several US Fed officials concerned over 'stalled' disinflation: minutes
BCE | -2.92% | 22.96 | $ | |
SCS | -3.01% | 10.97 | $ | |
GSK | -1.99% | 33.09 | $ | |
RIO | 0.36% | 58.84 | $ | |
AZN | 0.64% | 67.01 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.65% | 23.25 | $ | |
BCC | -1.31% | 115.88 | $ | |
JRI | -1.16% | 12.08 | $ | |
NGG | -3.3% | 56.13 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.79% | 22.92 | $ | |
RELX | -0.86% | 46.37 | $ | |
BP | 0.54% | 31.29 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.42% | 7.07 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.49 | $ | |
VOD | -1.99% | 8.05 | $ | |
BTI | -2.34% | 35.9 | $ |
Financial aid for Ukraine critical to keep services working
As the crisis worsens in Ukraine, humanitarian and security aid is flowing into the country, but financial support to keep the government running also is critical.
"The economy is collapsing," said Adnan Mazarei of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington.
With Kyiv unable to access tax revenue, "it is absolutely crucial for the international community to provide quick assistance not only for humanitarian purposes, but also to keep some of the basic government functions," he said.
And with a flood of refugees leaving the country in the face of Russia's invasion, often taking their savings with them, the banking sector also needs support, Mazarei said.
Of the $13.6 billion in aid expected to be released by Washington this week, $1.8 billion is earmarked to ensure "continuity of government," prevent cyberattacks and support the energy sector, according to the bill introduced in the US Congress.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board is meeting on Wednesday and expected to approve a $1.4 billion emergency package for Kyiv.
The World Bank already released nearly $500 million of what is expected to be a $3 billion package of aid, dubbed the "Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine," or "FREE Ukraine."
These sums are significant compared to the size of Ukraine's economy, valued at $155.5 billion at the end of 2020, according to World Bank data.
The IMF already had an ongoing $2.2 billion program with the government that was expected to end in June.
- Money without conditions -
But IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said late Tuesday that since the start of Moscow's military assault, the focus has shifted "from 'reforms' to 'crisis management.'"
The additional IMF funding, under its Rapid Financing Instrument, fast-tracks aid and imposes few conditions.
The same is true for the World Bank.
Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank's chief of operations, stressed in an interview with Sky News on Wednesday that the government desperately needs "budgetary resources to pay pensioners, to pay the salaries of civil servants, to keep the health system going."
But experts caution that the aid likely will not be enough to avoid a major economic crisis in the country which -- even before the Russian invasion -- was among the poorest countries in Europe.
"The flows of money can never really replace the losses in output," said Homi Kharas, an economist at the Brookings Institution in Washington, noting in particular the shutdown of trade.
"Money can help to reduce the impact of that a bit, but certainly will not be able to offset it."
Mazarei said the international community needs to prepare for the post-conflict period and the impact of the war on neighboring countries as well.
"Even when this war stops, even if the Russians just turn around and leave, there is a huge issue of the reconstruction of Ukraine," he said.
U.Ndiaye--CPN