KYIV, March 23 – Refusal to cooperate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may force Ukraine to cut state budget deficit, as well as weaken the hryvnia, and lead to an increase in inflation, public debt service costs and a number of other negative consequences, deputy head of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Dmytro Sologub said.

"Refusal to cooperate with the Fund will most likely lead to an increase in debt service costs, a reduction in the inflow of foreign investment, and pressure on the foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank," Sologub wrote in a column for Economic Truth.