AlQa'dah 22, 1436, September 06, 2015, SPA -- International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Sunday lauded Ukraine's economic progress and urged its creditors to join in a deal to restructure $18 billion of its sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt, Reuters reported. Speaking in Kiev alongside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Lagarde said Ukraine had "surprised the world" by its achievements, and his government's policies had brought "an economy that is showing signs of turning the corner." In particular, she said, Kiev's fiscal policies and efforts to strengthen the banking sector in difficult circumstances sent a welcoming signal to investors that Kiev had a strong team in place to make the economy grow. At the same time, she said stamping out corruption was a must if Ukraine's authorities were to re-establish the social contract with the people. The IMF is Ukraine's key financial saviour and Lagarde's unstinting praise for Kiev's efforts gave a boost to Poroshenko after a traumatic week in which street protests against his government's policies to bring peace to the east of the country killed three national guardsmen and injured scores of others. Turning to the Aug. 27 debt restructuring deal between Kiev and a group of its largest creditors, Lagarde urged all Ukraine's bondholders to support it. It includes a write-down of 20 percent of the principal owed, a small increase in the coupon on most of the bonds and a four-year extension of the maturity for each bond. Talks are going on to gain support from the other creditors for a deal which will provide Ukraine with about $15 billion of debt relief, which it can use to improve social benefits for poorer sections of the population and strengthen the war effort against pro-Russian separatist rebels in the east. "It is really up to all creditors to take advantage of (this) debt restructuring ... We believe it is a very good arrangement ... We doubt very much that anything better could have been obtained," Lagarde said.
