KYIV, May 15 - Ukraine may potentially strengthen its economy to a point that it will not need lending from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mikheil Saakashvili, the head of the executive committee of the National Reforms Council, said.

"Of course, there are many different influences. It seems to me that despite the fact that we are now obliged to cooperate with the IMF… See how much money they give us? They give us exactly enough money so that we simply pay off our foreign debts," Saakashvili said on The Right to Power program aired by the 1+1 TV channel on Thursday.