KYIV

The World Bank Group said it was ready to allocate $350 million to Ukraine as part of a plan for short- and long-term financing for the country.

The group’s board will consider disbursement by the end of March, the bank said.

The country’s partners have already pledged over $5 billion in financial aid in a move to support Ukraine’s economy and reform agenda amid anticipation of a military conflict with Russia. Funds include loans and grants from the U.S., Canada, Japan, France, Sweden and other countries. Last month, the EU proposed a 1.2 billion euro financial aid package to Kyiv to mitigate the effects of the conflict with Moscow. Washington boosted its support by offering a sovereign loan guarantee to of up to $ 1 billion to support Ukraine’s economic reform agenda.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been escalating with Moscow amassing more than 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. Western countries say they fear Russia may be planning to invade, although Kremlin denies such plans.

“President (David) Malpass affirmed that the World Bank is preparing quick disbursing budget support – for Board consideration by the end of March – of up to $350 million to support ongoing reforms,” the bank said in a statement following the meeting between the World Bank president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.2 percent in 2021, backed by the growth in the industry. The economy started to grow from the second quarter, reversing five consecutive quarters of negative growth linked to the imposition of restrictions owing to COVID-19. In nominal terms, GDP was a record-high $200 billion.

According to the central bank’s latest forecast, the real annual GDP growth will accelerate to about 4 percent in 2023-2024.

According to the World Bank’s latest projection, Ukraine’s economy is expected to expand by 3.2 percent in 2022 and 3.5 percent in 2023.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Ukraine’s growth this year at 3.6 percent. In October last year, Ukraine and the IMF reached a preliminary “staff-level” agreement after months of tortuous negotiations on resuming disbursements of a standby arrangement and a new disbursement of about $700 million has been approved.