Ukraine’s president discusses need for financial support with IMF’s Georgieva

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday he had discussed the need for financial support for Ukraine’s economy during a video conference with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

“The IMF is our important partner. We look forward to further fruitful joint work in maintaining financial stability of Ukraine,” Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter.

Zelenskiy’s office said in a statement after the video conference that he had asked for financial support to be sped up for the country, which is trying to fend off Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.

He said the state budget faced a monthly deficit of about $5 billion because the government had to increase war-related spending while revenues have shrunk as many businesses have shut down and stopped paying taxes.

Zelenskiy also stressed the importance of financial support to Ukraine from partner countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union, his office said.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Writing by Alexander Winning, Editing by Timothy Heritage, Tom Balmforth, William Maclean)