IMF’s Ljungman exits Ukraine with unlent money

Since 1992, when Ukraine joined the International Monetary Fund, the nation has borrowed roughly $32 billion out of a possible $74 billion in 11 separate programs.

Those numbers alone tell an unflattering story. They show that Ukraine has not been able to get its economic house in order well enough to live without the IMF’s low-interest loans that come with public policy strings attached. The record shows that Ukraine’s leaders, when confronted with financial emergencies, have a pattern of agreeing to the fund’s conditions only to ignore them and drop out of programs once the financial storm clouds have lifted.