(Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament on Friday gave final approval for legislation needed to secure a $16.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that is aimed at calming a crisis which has jolted the domestic financial system.
A total of 243 members in the 450-seat assembly backed the package, whose goal is to stabilise Ukraine’s finances and banking system, in its second and final reading.
Ukraine’s hryvnia currency has been under severe pressure despite central bank intervention for two weeks and analysts have said the country will have a hard time covering its debts at a time when global lending has ground to a halt.
The chamber approved the laws in a first reading on Wednesday, three days after Ukraine and the IMF clinched a preliminary agreement on the loan, which was subject to the legislation being passed.
“Our main task now is to overcome the first stage of the crisis,” parliament’s chairman, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, one of several top leaders urging deputies to back the measures promptly, told the chamber after the vote.
“I believe the government has all the necessary instruments to work at this in full. I expect the government to come up with new legislative initiatives to deal with the crisis.”
Yatsenyuk had overseen two days of consultations to produce a single document able to command a majority in the house.
Before the final vote, deputies considered a series of amendments and it was not immediately clear whether the document would meet all IMF requirements.
The hryvnia plunged to a record low of 7.2 to the dollar on Wednesday, but has since recovered to trade at 5.86-5.95 on Friday. The central bank, which sold $500 million on Thursday, has for two days offered unlimited funds to buy or sell currency, helping to calm the market.
Parliament had been blocked for a week in a long-running row over President Viktor Yushchenko’s dissolution of parliament and his call for a snap parliamentary election in December.
The election has divided public opinion, with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the president’s estranged ally, vowing to oppose it at all costs.
It now appears unlikely the election will take place by the end of the year. Parliament on Friday rejected a second attempt by Yushchenko’s allies to allocate funds for the poll.
