Funny how it works… The same week Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko imposed martial law on much of the country, the International Monetary Fund assured him that key parameters of the 2019 budget were on track for a proposed $3.9 billion new aid programagreed to last month which is designed to help the country maintain financial stability and the trust of investors especially ahead of an uncertain election period next year.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde personally made the assurance in a phone call with Poroshenko on Wednesday — the same daythe Ukrainian president signed the new martial law legislation into effect. According to Ukraine’s popular independent news agency Unian:

It was particularly underlined that the introduction of the martial law does not influence the interaction with the IMF.

Lagarde called the conversation “constructive” according to Reuters. An official statement released by Lagarde after the Wednesday phone call said:

The president informed me about the key parameters of the 2019 budget, which was recently approved by parliament and is currently under review by IMF staff. The preliminary assessment is satisfactory and the process is expected to be completed shortly.

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