The International Monetary Fund has approved a four-year aid programme for Ukraine worth around $17.5 billion (15.5 billion euros).<br /><br /> The country’s plight was on the agenda as heads of the world’s other leading financial institutions met in Berlin, where IMF chief Christine Lagarde issued a statement. <br /><br /> Five billion dollars is to be paid immediately to help stabilise Ukraine’s ailing economy.<br /><br /> The IMF loan is linked to pledges to implement reforms and cut spending.<br /><br /> New measures have been signed into law this week aimed at reducing public spending and introducing changes to the tax system.<br /><br /> “This is a four-year programme in response to the reforms undertaken in Ukraine and which obliged us not to stop and to move forward,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.<br /><br /> Separately, Sweden has offered Ukraine a loan of $100 million (95 million euros).<br /><br /> Prime Minister Stefan Lofven was in Kyiv to sign the deal, which comes on top of a renewed aid agreement worth almost 25 millio
