The IMF and the World Bank have agreed to provide massive financial assistance to strife-torn Ukraine — $19.5 billion in all — to bail it out of an economic crisis.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukraine had yesterday agreed on a $17.5-million bailout package with the World Bank announcing another $two million financial assistance.

“We hope that today’s agreement in Minsk and the IMF’s agreement with Ukraine will pave the way for a more stable economic and development environment to benefit the people of Ukraine,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

“Today I am announcing that the World Bank is ready to commit up to $2 billion in 2015, supporting the people of Ukraine in the face of current economic, financial, and geopolitical challenges.

“It is vital that Ukraine undertakes comprehensive reforms quickly,” Jim said.

The World Bank’s statement came after IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced having reached an agreement on a $17.5 billion bailout package for Ukraine.

“This new four-year arrangement would support immediate economic stabilisation in Ukraine as well as a set of bold policy reforms aimed at restoring robust growth over the medium term and improving living standards for the Ukrainian people,” she said.

“It is an ambitious program; it is a tough program; and it is not without risk.

“But it is also a realistic program and its effective implementation — after consideration and approval by our Executive Board — can represent a turning point for Ukraine,” Lagarde said.

The US welcomed the news that the Government of Ukraine and the IMF have reached an agreement that will allow the IMF to provide Ukraine with $17.5 billion in financial assistance in support of economic reforms.

“This agreement will enable Ukraine to continue implementing the reforms it needs to build a stronger, more prosperous, democratic future for the people of Ukraine,” the Secretary of State, John Kerry, said.

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