The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it had completed its first review of Ukraine’s $8.1 billion loan programme, paving the way for the war-torn country to receive a second tranche of $690 million despite Kyiv’s failure to meet a key condition.

The IMF’s board must still approve the agreement.

Ukraine met all quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for the loan by the end of March, but implemented two structural benchmarks with a delay and missed one benchmark, the IMF said in a statement.

To keep the program on track, IMF staff and Ukrainian authorities agreed to a revised timeline for implementing reforms, corrective actions to address slippages and additional policy commitments, the IMF said in a statement.

It gave no details on the new timeline or commitments.

The IMF, which also completed a review of Ukraine’s overall economy, said authorities had broadly maintained macroeconomic stability despite Russia’s war – now in its fifth year – as well as spillovers from the war in the Middle East.

It said the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has maintained adequate international reserves, preserved financial stability and kept inflation expectations anchored despite shocks. However, GDP growth is projected to slow to 1 per cent to 1.6 per cent this year due to the impacts of the ongoing war and spillovers from the war in the Middle East which began on February 28.