KYIV, Sept. 13 - Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on Wednesday said the government was committed to implementing reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund, following a meeting with IMF first deputy managing director David Lipton, Reuters reported.

Ukraine has so far received $8.4 billion from the IMF, helping it to recover from a two-year recession following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and the outbreak of a Russian-backed insurgency in its industrial east.

But further disbursements from the $17.5 billion program depend in part on a pension reform being implemented and a review of gas prices that could lead to a rise in utility tariffs.

“The government highly values the cooperation with the Fund and its contribution to reforms in Ukraine,” Groysman said in statement following a meeting with Lipton in Kiev.

“We are set on further implementation of our joint program with the IMF, which is extremely important for Ukraine. The reforms we are doing are needed by Ukraine, not the IMF.”

Previously, IMF officials have expressed concern that the country is backsliding on some of its promises, while reformist politicians and activists have questioned the authorities’ commitment to enacting lasting change.

“The global economy is growing now. And Ukraine can and should use this opportunity now,” the government’s press service quoted Lipton as telling Groysman in their meeting.

Pension reform, privatization and the fight against corruption are key requirements for the completion of the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility program with the International Monetary Fund, the Fund's spokesman, William Murray, said in July.

"Consideration by the Executive Board of the forth review will be possible once the policies needed for this review are implemented. The focus of this review is on pension reform and on measures to speed up privatization and ensure concrete results in anti-corruption efforts," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine may be able to do without borrowing from the International Monetary Fund after the current $17.5 billion four-year lending program expires, Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk said September 4.

"The macroeconomic situation has stabilized. In 2016, economic growth has resumed. I really want our sixth IMF program to be fully implemented and become the last one,” Danylyuk said. “Ukraine with its potential can and should become economically and financially self-sufficient.” (rt/ez)