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IMF urges Ukraine to fulfil bailout obligations

Xinhua, November 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday urged Ukraine to fully implement their obligations under the 17.5-billion-U.S.-dollar bailout program to receive the next loan tranche.

"It is now important that the government submits to parliament a budget that is consistent with the program objectives of further reducing the budget deficit and public debt to safer levels," Ron van Rooden, mission chief for Ukraine, said in a press release.

Besides, van Rooden said, Kiev should intensify efforts to broaden the tax base and rationalize spending.

"A strong fiscal position along with actions to rehabilitate the banking system and speed up economic reforms are critical to entrench financial stability and pave the way for strong and sustainable growth," he emphasized.

Since mid-March, Ukraine has received a total of 6.7 billion dollars in two disbursements from the global lender's aid program, but issuing the third tranche was delayed over slow progress in implementation of required reforms.

To allocate the next portion of aid, the IMF requires Kiev to narrow the gap in its 2016 budget to 3.7 percent of the gross domestic product and implement a tax reform, envisaging elimination of privileges for agribusiness. Endit