REUTERS
There is no direct correlation between the approval of the 2020 draft national budget and the IMF's new program, Honcharuk said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk says the Cabinet of Ministers expects a new program of cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukraine's key lender, to be launched before the end of 2019.
"We expect that it may be launched at the end of the year," he said at a briefing on September 15.
According to the official, there is no direct correlation between the approval of the draft national budget for 2020 and the IMF's new cooperation program.
"Our country needs a budget as soon as possible to plan work for next year. It is obvious that our international partners expect us to carry out reasonable and necessary actions to the deadline stipulated by our laws," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the IMF mission that arrived in Kyiv on September 11 will focus on the discussion of Ukraine's financial policies, the new government's plans, and the creation of an effective anti-corruption system.
On September 11, Ukrainian Prime Minister Honcharuk said that the IMF mission would work in Ukraine until September 24. He assured that an agreement on all issues would be reached during negotiations.
In early September, Ukraine handled all its payments due under the IMF's 2014 Stand-By Arrangement, having transferred funds in the equivalent of US$156 million.