Exclusive: Ukraine expects $5 billion IMF loan approval and initial payout next week - PM

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine is expecting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a $5 billion (£4 billion) loan package on June 5 and to disburse the first tranche of $1.9 billion the next day, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told Reuters on Friday. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine risked defaulting without the money, which Shmygal said he expected to be approved at an IMF board meeting. Kiev struggled for months to pass the reforms the fund was asking for amid concerns..