Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Wednesday talks with the IMF on a second tranche of a $16.4 billion loan will restart soon and Kyiv expects them to end successfully, Reuters reported.
An IMF mission left Kyiv last week without completing its review of Ukraine`s progress and disbursing a second sum, worth $1.84 billion. Ukraine`s finance minister resigned after a row with Tymoshenko and the IMF urged stronger crisis management.
"I am sure that our cooperation with the IMF will continue in the coming days, it will continue successfully, and will conclude with the next tranche being received to support the currency market and Ukraine`s finances," Tymoshenko told a cabinet meeting.
At the centre of the unresolved talks is Ukraine`s 3-percent budget deficit approved by parliament at the end of last year despite an IMF demand for a deficit-free budget.
Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk refused to sign the budget, opposed the deficit and said the financial plan was based on unrealistic economic growth and inflation forecasts that in turn skewed planned revenues and expenditures.
Parliament on Tuesday accepted Pynzenyk`s resignation. Tymoshenko is yet to put nominate a new minister.
Tymoshenko said she wants a declaration to be sent to the IMF expressing readiness to fully cooperate with its demands. She wanted the declaration to be signed by parliament`s chairman and the president -- with whom she has been at odds for months.
Their rowing has delayed policy making to combat the economic crisis in Ukraine.
The ex-Soviet state is expected to fall deep in recession this year. Its currency has weakened sharply, the banking sector is shaky and industrial production has up to 30 percent.
