IMF sees a new funding gap for Ukraine of up to $54 billion
Ukraine may face an uncovered financing need of up to $54 billion by the end of 2029. This preliminary estimate is provided by the International Monetary Fund amid growing needs of the country for external support due to the ongoing war.
This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to preliminary calculations of the IMF.
This refers to funds that Ukraine still needs to attract from international partners to cover needs in the coming years. The estimate covers the period up to the end of 2029 and is broader than the problem of financing only the state budget for 2027.
The new figure should not be confused with the total financial gap that the IMF calculates within its program for Ukraine.
IMF previously estimated total need at $140.3 billion
In the July report of the IMF, the total financial gap of Ukraine for 2026-2029 under the baseline scenario was estimated at $140.3 billion. At the same time, sources of financing from the European Union, other international partners and the IMF itself were already identified or expected for a significant part of this amount.
In particular, in the Fund's calculations the financial gap was $55.4 billion in 2026, $43.4 billion in 2027, $22.8 billion in 2028 and $18.6 billion in 2029.
The IMF then noted that firm commitments of partners cover Ukraine's needs for the next 12 months, and as for financing the rest of the period, the Fund saw good prospects for obtaining the necessary support.
Thus, the current estimate of up to $54 billion relates precisely to additional financing that Ukraine still needs to secure, and not to the entire total need of the country for 2026-2029.
Earlier in Ukraine they already estimated the uncovered external financing need of the budget for 2027 in tens of billions of dollars. New calculations of the IMF show that the issue of attracting funds will remain relevant in the following years.
