Ukraine’s president has informed international finance ministers that his country requires $7 billion (£5.4 billion) every month until the summer to stay afloat.
“We will need hundreds of billions of dollars to reconstruct all of this eventually,” Volodymyr Zelensky added.
He was speaking via video connection from Kyiv to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meeting.
Ukraine has incurred nearly $60 billion in physical damage, according to the World Bank.
Mr. Zelensky further stated that Russia should be promptly excluded from international financial organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, and others.
He went on to say that all countries must “now be prepared to tear up all links with Russia.”
When asked if the IMF could acquire the urgent cash that Ukraine requires, Kristalina Georgieva, the organization’s managing director, told BBC economics editor Faisal Islam: “We found it for the first and second month.”
“We expect that as the Ukrainian economy improves in the sections of the nation that are not under occupation, and as remittances from people who now work outside begin to flow, this number will decrease.”
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has stated that Russia should be held responsible for part of the costs associated with reconstructing Ukraine following the conflict.
It occurred as some countries demanded that confiscated Russian assets be utilized to help rebuild the country.
Ms. Yellen did warn, though, that utilizing confiscated Russian central bank deposits in the US to reconstruct Ukraine would be a “major move” that would need consultation and agreement with international partners.
Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister, who spoke at the conference in person, claimed the country’s economic production might drop by as much as 50%, with direct and indirect losses totaling $560 billion thus far.
According to the World Bank, the number is more than three times the size of Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP), which was $155.5 billion in 2020.
“If we don’t stop this conflict collectively, the losses will skyrocket,” Mr Shmyhal warned, adding that Ukraine will require a reconstruction plan akin to the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild Europe after WWII.
Meanwhile, World Bank President David Malpass estimated that Russia’s invasion had caused $60 billion in damage to Ukraine’s structures and infrastructure, and warned that the sum will climb if the battle continues.
Mr Malpass stated that the first estimate of “limited” damage costs did not account for Ukraine’s expanding economic effect.
On Thursday, the US placed further restrictions on Russian ships, while the UK imposed import bans and increased tariffs on luxury commodities such as caviar, silver, and diamonds.
However, the Biden administration echoed Germany’s concerns about the European Union’s haste in imposing new sanctions on Russian energy, warning that it may end up costing Europe more than Russia.