IMF says Ukraine to get about $10 billion in first year of loan facility

BERLIN (Reuters) - Ukraine's newly-approved loan facility from the International Monetary Fund will be "heavily front-loaded" with about $10 billion (6.70 billion pounds) to be disbursed in the first year, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the IMF signed off on a $17.5 billion four-year aid programme for Ukraine to attempt to pull its economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. This is expected to unlock credits from other donors for a combined package of about $40 billion.