IMF Boss Kristalina Georgieva Concerned about Political Pressure on NBU

Managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva has expressed concern over the pressure on the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in a conversation with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, as Georgieva’s statement on the IMF website informed.

“NBU’s independence preservation benefits to Ukraine’s interests. It is also a requirement of the current co-operation program with the IMF. I called on President Zelensky to pursue a sound monetary and financial policy. They are the main factors of investments increase and inclusive growth,” said the IMF boss.

Georgieva emphasised the success of the NBU’s reform and the bank’s activities during the last five years, which have become a “success story for Ukraine.” She noted that an independent central bank promotes macroeconomic stability, boosts investor confidence and protects the financial system. These are the significant prerequisites for investment and economic upturn. The IMF boss has also highly evaluated the purge of the banking sector by NBU.

“Successful purge of the financial sector, which had been destroyed by fraud, was carried out also due to the NBU supervisory work,” Georgieva believes.

Following the conversation, Volodymyr Zelensky promised to submit to the Parliament the candidacy of a “detached technocrat” for the NBU Chairman post, who would continue the “independent course,” by the end of this week.

To recap, on 1 July, the former Chairman of NBU Yakiv Smoliy announced that he had written and submitted to the President of Ukraine the application for resignation. He explained this by the fact that NBU has been under systematic political pressure for a long time.

Natalia Tolub