IMF, reforms key for Ukraine amid political uncertainty - Fitch

"International support from the IMF and other multilateral and bilateral lenders is an important support for Ukraine's sovereign rating, which we raised to 'CCC' from 'RD' last November after the country completed its private-sector debt restructuring. The official sector provided most fiscal financing in 2015 and will do so again this year. Official financing has boosted reserves, although these remain low," Fitch said. "Tensions between President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, combined with the influence of vested interests and popular opposition, have already delayed reforms and held up the second review of the IMF's $40 billion, three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme," Fitch said. The near-term political consequences are unclear. Yatseniuk's government survived a no-confidence vote last week, but two parties - Batkivschyna and Samopomich - withdrew from the coalition, leaving it 11 seats short of a parliamentary majority. It is possible that in the longer term political reconfiguration in Ukraine will produce a government more capable of reforming governance and fighting corruption, Fitch said.