Politics: MPs adopt laws required by the IMF

Макроэкономика 03.03.2015 Parliament worked late hours yesterday to adopt a number of laws required to obtain IMF funding later this month. These included legislation on Naftogas, the state pension fund, and the state budget. As a result, the state budget approved UAH563bn in expenditures, which corresponds to 29.6% of the expected GDP. In 2014, expenditures were UAH430bn or 27.7% of GDP. In our view, the state budget is forecast to have a UAH140bn deficit instead of a government-projected deficit of UAH76bn as expenditures increased by 31% from the previous year, according to the government and statistical data. The budget, as approved by the IMF, now appears ready to be cleared from all bureaucratic impediments. Later this month, the IMF is expected to assess and approve the program at its headquarters in Washington. Ukraine's authorities should get the first tranche of about US$5bn this month.