Ukraine hopes to get first IMF tranche in April

Ukrainian Finance Minister Alexandr Shlapak said Friday that his country hopes to get the first tranche of the International Monetary Fund' s (IMF) stand-by loan program in April. "The IMF' s draft provides for the first tranche worth 3 billion U.S. dollars. However, it is not the final decision, but just a plan," Shlapak told a cabinet meeting. He said that in order to obtain the loan, the government should implement preliminary measures for economy stabilization and create conditions for stable development in the nearest future. On Thursday, the IMF mission in Ukraine agreed to grant Kiev a loan between 14 billion and 18 billion dollars to keep the country' s ailing economy afloat amid the recent economic and political turbulence. To obtain the bailout, Ukraine agreed to implement reforms in energy and financial sectors, strengthen its fiscal policy and improve business climate.