The board of directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are due to meet on December 10 when they are likely to sign off on a new deal for Ukraine that should clear the way for the release of another badly needed tranche.

The Ukrainian authorities should "complete all prior actions" necessary for cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new $3.9bn Stand By Agreement (SBA), the multinational lender said in a statement on November 28.

The statement followed a telephone conversation between the IMF's Managing Director Christine and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. "I had a constructive conversation with President Poroshenko earlier today, during which we discussed the status of the expected SBA. 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," Lagarde said in the statement e-mailed to bne IntelliNews.

Earlier this month the IMF said it has agreed a new deal with the government in Ukraine, but that it needed to be formally accepted by the multilateral lenders board of directors before it could go into affect. The IMF was waiting for the government to finalise the 2019 budget law before signing off on more assistance. The government passed the new budget law last week.

“The preliminary assessment is satisfactory and the process is expected to be completed shortly. We also explored possible technical assistance from the IMF to strengthen tax administration and make the tax system more growth-friendly while assuring debt sustainability,” Lararge added.

"All prior actions are expected to be completed by the Ukrainian authorities by December 10, 2018, and a meeting of the Executive Board to discuss the SBA would be convened promptly after that," she added. "We reaffirmed the positive and cooperative relationship between Ukraine and the IMF."

The new budget has a deficit of 2.3% of the nation's GDP. The approval of the budget compliant with the IMF is crucially important for Kyiv's cooperation with the donor.

Among other conditions for possible repackaging of undrawn funds from the existing $17.5bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreed in 2015 into a $5bn-$6bn SBA are the increase the gas price for households, as well as the implementation of anti-corruption measures. Ukraine has received $8.4bn from the IMF so far under the multinational lender's EFF.