Larry Summers, former U.S. treasury secretary, who has been watching debt negotiations closely for more than 30 years, statesthat Ukraine has gotten as good and fast a deal as any he has ever seen.
The deal reduces the principal value of Ukraine’s debt and eliminates principal payments for the next four years, unlocks substantial support from the IMF and other international financial institutions, brings forward the day when Ukraine can attract significant private capital flows, establishes clear principles that will enable Ukraine to defer all principal payments on its obligation coming due to Russia. He also noted that “historians will wonder why the international community has invested more than 10 times as much money in supporting a recalcitrant Greece as in supporting a reforming Ukraine, since the start of their crisis. Perhaps intra-European Union loans are in some special category, but as of this moment the IMF’s potential exposure to Greece is $41 billion compared to only $22 billion for Ukraine”. Read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/