WASHINGTON, December 8. /TASS/. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached an agreement with Ukrainian authorities on a new three-year lending program worth $5.5 bln, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a press release after a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

"I was pleased to note that IMF staff has reached agreement with the authorities on the policies to underpin a new 3-year, SDR [Special Drawing Rights - TASS] 4 billion (about US$ 5.5 billion) arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility," Georgieva said.

The call with Vladimir Zelensky was very constructive, the IMF Managing Director said. "I assured the President of the IMF's readiness to support the authorities’ policy agenda to maintain macro-economic stability and lift the economy to a path of higher, sustainable, and inclusive growth, including with a new IMF-supported program," Georgieva said.

"This agreement is subject to IMF management approval and to approval by the Executive Board, and effectiveness of the arrangement will be conditional on the implementation of a set of prior actions," she added.

The current standby aid program was agreed by Ukraine and IMF in late December 2018. It is designed for 14 months and provides for financial aid of $3.9 bln. Ukraine received the tranche of about $1.4 bln at the turn of December 2018. The country planned to receive two tranches from IMF of about $1.3 bln each in this year but this did not take place. Authorities intend to close cooperation with IMF in 2023, Ukraine’s financial minister Oksana Markarova said earlier.