In recent years, Ukraine has demonstrated that it is a reliable borrower with a solid plan for debt repayment. Therefore, it's more beneficial for Ukraine's partners to provide funding to the country now, preventing its defeat in the war, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative in Ukraine, Prishila Tofano.
"Funding the country now is worthwhile. Not only in terms of values, principles, or morality, but it could also be cheaper for its (Ukraine's – IF-U) allies. It is less expensive to finance Ukraine now and prevent it from losing the war than to cover the costs of additional defense or refugees later if Ukraine loses the war," she stated at the conference "Matrix of Reforms: Foundations for Strengthening Economic Growth for EU Membership" in Kyiv.
At the same time, Tofano noted that Ukraine must continue to prove to its international allies its ability to implement sound policies.
The IMF representative emphasized that the country has made efforts to increase its own revenues; however, the shock caused by Russian aggression is so severe that Ukraine is unable to manage without external financing. In this regard, the new G7 initiative "Accelerating Emergency Revenue (ERA) for Ukraine" is crucial, under which the country will receive $50 billion from the revenues of frozen Russian assets.
Tofano also pointed out that after the war, Ukraine's expenses will remain high due to the costs of reconstruction, significant social expenditures, including the adaptation of veterans and efforts to bring back citizens who have left the country.
In this context, the representative of the Fund stressed the importance of increasing taxes, mentioning the IMF's proposal to raise the value-added tax and adhere to the National Revenue Strategy.
Tofano also highlighted the importance of improving expenditure rationalization and planning to free up additional financial resources, enhancing institutional performance, and maintaining a focus on EU membership.
"(…) this idea is that we also need to plan for post-war needs. For example, our program includes a structural benchmark of the Budget Declaration covering 2026-2028 to ensure that Ukraine is thinking about these higher expenditures, about these costs that will actively grow now and after the war," she said.
Among the ways to secure financial resources, she also mentioned restructuring Ukraine's external debts, reiterating that emission financing remains an undesirable option.