International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she will back a request by Ukraine's president to expand the fund's bailout program. The IMF chief said she would "certainly propose to support" Ukraine's request for a bigger bailout and would submit the package to the fund's board "as quickly as possible." Lagarde was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Her comments were later relayed by the IMF in Washington. The IMF is negotiating an expanded bailout for Ukraine as part of a larger international emergency-financing package. The country is in the middle of a deep economic contraction, and the currency's value has plunged and borrowing costs have surged as investors flee and the central bank's cash reserves dwindle.
