REUTERS
A bill on the restructuring of foreign currency consumer loans adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on July 2 providing for the conversion of the loan balance at the date when a credit agreement was signed, would "impose a significant cost on banks" in Ukraine, according to Director of the International Monetary Fund's European Department Poul M. Thomsen.
"Legislative initiatives – like bill 1558-1 on the conversion of FX loans into hryvnia – would impose a significant cost on banks, and through them on most banks' depositors and borrowers, for the benefit of the few," Thomsen said in a statement on Sunday.
Thomsen emphasized, however, that "reversing economic reforms for the sake of short term gains has been detrimental to Ukraine's economy in the past," so the country "needs to stay on the course of reforms, economic modernization and responsible macroeconomic policies."
As UNIAN reported earlier, on July 2, the Ukrainian parliament adopted bill No. 1558-1 on restructuring all consumer loans disbursed for the acquisition of property, without limitation of the amount of debt at the date of the loan agreement signing (in most cases, at the exchange rate of UAH 5.05 per U.S. dollar). A total of 229 deputies voted for the bill, with 226 votes required for it to be passed.
At the same time, a draft resolution has already been registered in parliament to repeal the 1558-1 bill in connection with the violation of the procedural regulations of the Verkhovna Rada, in particular, because of non-personal voting.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated that the draft law on loans conversion would cause the collapse of the Ukrainian banking system and the depletion of the country's foreign exchange reserves.