A person walks past a residence in Kyiv on 19 October 2022 where a couple was killed in a Russian drone strike two days before. (Photo: Ed Ram / Getty Images) 
In one of his first speeches as central bank chief, Andriy Pyshnyi stressed a willingness to work with the IMF and cited a policy of crisis management that he would like to continue. He’s in Vienna this week taking part in the negotiations, but will oversee Thursday’s meeting on rates and a subsequent online briefing.
Policy makers are expected to leave the key interest rate unchanged at 25% for a third meeting, according to all economists in a Bloomberg survey. The central bank has said it won’t tinker with rates through at least April 2024.
The monetary policy meeting takes place on the day when the IMF should complete its mission to Ukraine, a meeting that may shed more light on the country’s prospects for getting a sizable aid package from the donor.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February, is seeking as much as $20-billion in new funds from the lender to shore up its economy. The IMF has said it needs more predictability from Ukraine on its economic outlook and is considering a non-cash provisional programme.
The central bank will also present its latest economic outlook, which should include the impact of Russia’s strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities. They have destroyed a third of the country’s power stations, a significant blow to an economy that’s already expected to contract by more than 30% this year.
“The recent attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure should certainly worsen the prospects of the country’s economy,” said Mykhaylo Demkiv, an analyst at investment bank ICU in Kyiv. “Not much of the GDP is generated when the lights are off.”
Pyshnyi, formerly the chief executive of government-controlled lender Oschadbank and a politician, replaced Kyrylo Shevchenko, who said anti-graft authorities had accused him in an embezzlement case after he unexpectedly resigned. BM/DM