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KIEV, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has had productive discussions about assisting Ukraine with a new three-year loan programme but stressed the need to safeguard central bank independence and financial stability, a statement said on Friday.
As it left Ukraine after two weeks of meeting stakeholders, the IMF said discussions on the new programme would continue in the coming weeks.
Ukraine's new government wants to secure an IMF programme to underpin economic stability and as a signal to investors of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's willingness to tackle reforms and fight corruption.
The exact size of the programme has yet to be determined but could be around $5-6 billion over three years. It would replace a standby deal of $3.9 billion that expires next year.
But a series of incidents in recent weeks have clouded Ukraine's investment climate. The central bank said last week reformers past and present at the regulator were being targeted after a former governor's house was set ablaze.
The government has also sought to reassure the global lender that there would be no rollback of an IMF-backed decision in 2016 to nationalise PrivatBank, Ukraine's largest lender, which was owned by one of the country's most powerful tycoons.
"The mission has had productive discussions on policies for a new program these last two weeks, especially on fiscal and monetary policies, as well as key reform measures," the IMF said in a statement.
"It also underscored the importance of central bank independence and safeguarding financial stability, as well as the need to make every effort to minimize the fiscal costs of bank resolutions." (Reporting by Matthias Williams Editing by Shri Navaratnam)