President Poroshenko enacts laws on restructuring of sovereign debt and raising of social standards / Photo from president.gov.ua
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a package of government-prepared laws stipulating the procedure of restructuring Ukraine's sovereign debt and introducing amendments to the national budget for 2015 aimed at raising social standards by increasing wages, pensions, social benefits, according to the presidential press service.
"Our team has done everything possible to ensure this growth already on September 1, albeit at a modest value of 13% to 18%," Poroshenko said when signing the laws at a meeting of the National Council of Reforms on Friday.
The president called this step the first result of real reforms, for which the government has made everything possible. "In war conditions we've managed to avoid default, achieve macro-financial stability and stabilize the banking system. Due to coordinated and efficient work, we've managed to find resources to increase salaries not on December 1 [as was originally planned], but on September 1," the president said.
He also added that the authorities managed to persuade the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other partners that this is a sustainable income that provides revenues for the state budget on a reliable basis.
Poroshenko said he is confident that the implementation of the reforms would facilitate the improvement of the economic situation.
"We are doing our best to restore economic growth. I am hopeful it will happen in 2016 and ensure further increase of social standards," he added.
Law No.704-VIII on amendments to the Law of Ukraine on the national budget of Ukraine for 2015 was adopted by parliament on September 17, 2015.
On the same day, the parliament secured the constitutional majority to approve a package of government-prepared bills to restructure part of Ukraine's sovereign debt, which was agreed with the Ad Hoc Creditors' Committee late in August 2015. Ukrainian lawmakers introduced changes to the Budget and Tax Codes, and approved amendments to the law on securities and the stock market for determining the conditions of state derivatives, namely their issue, servicing and repayment. The bills also prioritized restructured debts in relation to those debts that were not included into the debt re-profiling list.
The amendments introduced to the Tax Code concern the rules of taxation of accounts payable and revenues of companies that borrow government-backed loans.
On August 27, Ukraine and the creditors' committee agreed on the restructuring of part of sovereign debt to the tune of $18 billion. The restructuring conditions foresee the complete write-off of $4 billion, a four-year grace period for principal debt repayments and a flat rate for all eurobonds fixed at 7.75%.