Off the wire
• 1st LD Writethru: UN chief slams coup d'etat in Burkina Faso  • 14 parties, 5 coalitions contest Greek Sept. 20 national polls  • Thousands of Turkish people rally against terrorism in Ankara  • Austerity budget for Greece's Sept. 20 national polls  • Two Pakistani civilians die in Indian firing: Islamabad  • Fledgling Swiss economy to pick up in 2016: report  • FTSE 100 drops ahead of Fed's decision  • Cholera breaks out in NW Burundi  • LME base metals mostly lower on Thursday  • Roundup: Italian media critical of treatment of refugees by Hungary  
You are here: 　 Home

Ukraine's parliament approves debt-restructuring deal with int'l creditors

Xinhua, September 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ukraine's parliament on Thursday approved a set of laws needed to seal an agreement with international creditors on restructuring the country's outstanding foreign debt.

Each of four bills, which provide legislative grounds for the Ukrainian government to ink the agreement, was approved by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers, the parliament said in a statement.

On Aug. 27, the Ukrainian government and a committee of its international private creditors reached an agreement to write off 20 percent of Ukraine's 19.3-billion-U.S.-dollar debt and grant Kiev a four-year extension of the loan repayment period as part of the debt-restructuring program.

The agreement, which was achieved after five months of negotiations, was welcomed by the Ukrainian cabinet as a vital chance for Kiev to avoid a default.

However, some political forces in the East European country said that the write-off of the debt was not enough to spur Ukraine's economy and threatened to block voting on the approval of the deal.

To come into force, the debt-restructuring agreement should be also endorsed by the committee of creditors within 21 days. Enditem