WASHINGTON/KIEV (Sept 14): The International Monetary Fund said its board on Wednesday approved a long-awaited loan disbursement to Ukraine of about US$1 billion, after a review of the country's bailout program. To date, Ukraine has received about US$7.62 billion in the program launched in March 2015. The latest disbursement was less than the roughly US$1.7 billion anticipated, after some reforms required by the fund had stalled. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the disbursement would clear the way for an additional US$1 billion U.S. loan guarantee and a new 600 million-euro loan from the European Union. Last week, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk said the IMF decision should clear the way for the sale of about US$1 billion in U.S.-guaranteed bonds by the end of September.

Source: The Edge Markets September 15, 2016 08:15 UTC