(Reuters) – The annual IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington D.C. from Monday (10) to Saturday will include talks on several emerging markets squeezed by rising inflation and borrowing costs against a backdrop of slowing global growth.The economic hit from Russia's invasion of Ukraine has added to pressures that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic and have led many smaller developing economies to turn to the International Monetary Fund in recent months for help.The IMF has approved programs or financing facilities for 10 countries since the start of the Ukraine war on Feb.
24 worth a combined $77 billion, London-based Tellimer estimates.This excludes emergency financing under the rapid credit facility (RCF) and rapid financing instrument (RFI) facilities, which countries such as Ukraine and Tonga have tapped.
The fund also reached staff-level agreements on new facilities for four other countries.UKRAINESince Russia's invasion began, Ukraine has been scrambling to secure billions of dollars to plug a $5 billion-a-month fiscal shortfall and shore up its economy, which is expected to contract 35% in 2022.On Friday, the IMF said its executive board approved Kyiv's request for $1.3 billion in emergency funding through a Rapid Financing Instrument.
The funds will come from a new emergency lending program to address food shortages approved by the IMF board in September. This is on top of $1.4 billion the IMF has provided to Ukraine since the start of the war.Ukrainian officials are pressing for non-emergency funds under a full-fledged IMF lending program, which could come at a later stage though its size is unclear.