KYIV, Dec 20 – The approval of the new 14-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for $3.9 billion by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Ukraine will contribute to macrofinancial stability in the country and successful payments on external debt, bankers said in a poll.

"The launch of Ukraine's cooperation program with the IMF will provide the foundation for macrofinancial stability in Ukraine in 2019. Thanks to raising funds from the IMF and other international financial institutions, the task of refinancing large payments on Ukraine's external state debt has been practically solved. This will have a calming effect on the foreign exchange market at least until autumn 2019," Chief Analyst at Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) Oleksiy Blynov said.