UK confirms further $500 million in loan guarantees for Ukraine

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is ready to provide an extra $500 million of loan guarantees to Ukraine, taking the total this year to $1 billion, British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday.

Hunt said the British loan guarantees had been important to underwrite a broader $15.6 billion four-year package of support for Ukraine from the International Monetary Fund, whose Spring Meetings he is attending in Washington.

“This funding will boost Ukraine’s economic resilience and bolster its resistance against Russia,” he said in a statement.

The loan guarantee was first detailed in a written statement to parliament last month.

Britain has now pledged a total of 6.5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) of support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and the latest loan guarantees will help finance Ukrainian public services such as schools and hospitals, the finance ministry said.

Hunt also said he had finalised an extra $670 million for the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, and $3.3 billion for the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which supports energy projects and projects to combat climate change.

“Our support for other countries comes at a time when I am deeply focussed on getting the UK’s economy growing, and our plan for that is working as we’re on track to halve inflation this year,” he said.

On Tuesday the IMF upgraded its outlook for Britain’s economy but still expects British gross domestic product to contract more this year than in any other major Western economy.

British inflation is expected to average 6.8% this year according to the IMF, down from 9.1% in 2022 but above the 5.3% projected for the euro zone.

($1 = 0.8012 pounds)

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by William James)