WASHINGTON, Feb 16 - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Saturday urged Ukraine to forge ahead with deeper structural reforms needed to achieve stronger economic growth, Reuters reported.

Lagarde made the comments in a statement issued after meeting with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Munich, Germany. Tymoshenko is a leading candidate ahead of presidential election next month.

The IMF approved a new $3.9 billion stand-by aid agreement for Ukraine in December to help maintain stability.

"I highlighted the urgency for Ukraine to safeguard the gains made in restoring macroeconomic stability and to press ahead with the deeper structural reforms needed to achieve stronger economic growth and improve people's living standards in a sustainable manner," said Lagarde.

Lagarde made a similar call at a meeting with President Petro Poroshenko last month.

The IMF in January urged Ukraine to accelerate selling state assets to increase private investments and boost economic growth.

The IMF warned Ukraine its economy had been weakening due to slowing investments and amid foreign investors’ complaints about difficult business environment.

Gösta Ljungman, IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine, made the statement after meeting Vitaliy Trubarov, the head of the State Property Fund, to deliver the message.

"The clear requirement of the IMF is to start selling [state-owned] companies in 2019 from the list of large asset privatization," Trubarov said after the meeting.

The slow pace of privatization is a major setback for Poroshenko and his government, underscoring failure to accelerate long-promised economic reforms.

Poroshenko is running for re-election in March, but is expected to face strong competition from a number of candidates that will criticize him for the government’s poor economic reform record.

The developments come amid dismal performance with privatization last year when only 2% of scheduled assets were sold to investors, forcing the government to borrow money instead to bridge budget gap.

Government critics blamed corruption when well-connected businessmen using loopholes in the legal system to stall privatization allowing them to continue access to state resources.

Ukraine last month won a new lending commitment from the IMF for $3.9 billion in loans that will help the country pay off foreign debts that are coming due. (rt/tl/ez)