KIEV, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Ukraine to implement eight key reforms to ensure the sustainable growth of its economy, the Ukrinform news agency said Tuesday, citing an IMF official.
The restructuring of the central bank, the revamping of the financial sector, the overhaul of public finance management and tax administration system are among the major reforms which need to be implemented by Kiev, Goesta Ljungman, the IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine, was quoted as saying.
The other reforms are liberalization of the land market, privatization, the fight against corruption, as well as the pension system and energy sector reforms, Ljungman said.
In 2015, the IMF approved a 17.5-billion-U.S.-dollar bailout program for Kiev in exchange for the implementation of a package of reforms.
Since then, the East European country has received about 8.7 billion dollars from the IMF, which prevented the collapse of the Ukrainian economy.
The disbursement of the aid was suspended after April 2017 over Ukraine's failure to implement some of the agreed reforms.
Ukraine's economy grew by 2.5 percent in 2017, the highest annual growth rate in six years, after growing 2.3 percent in 2016.
