IMF chief optimistic G7 funds for Ukraine can stave off hyperinflation

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday she was “getting more optimistic” that a G7 agreement to provide new budget funding to Ukraine can be reached and can help the country avoid hyperinflation.

Georgieva said on the sidelines of a G7 finance ministers’ and central bank governors’ meeting that the main issue for the funding would be its timing – avoiding delays that may push the country into monetary financing, where its central bank effectively funds the government.

“You know, what happens if a country has to go into monetary financing. A war brings hyperinflation and then terrible, terrible, damage – which we think we can avoid,” Georgieva said.

(Reporting by David Lawder; editing by John Stonestreet)