Ukraine's parliament backed a budget for 2015 yesterday that it had been under pressure to approve to secure the next tranche of financial aid under a $17 billion International Monetary Fund loan package, the Interfax news agency reported. Before the budget vote in the early hours of the morning, deputies approved a series of austerity laws, including an amendment to impose additional duties on imports, that Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk warned could prove unpopular with Ukraine's foreign trade partners. Foreign currency reserves have more than halved since the beginning of the year to a 10-year low, due to gas debt repayments to Russia and efforts to support its struggling currency, the hryvnia. Yatseniuk said the budget could still be amended following talks with Ukraine's Western backers. "A series of articles will change depending on what we agree with international lenders," Interfax quoted him as telling parliament. He said these discussions would start on Jan. 7. Ukraine's remaining foreign currency reserves stand at just under $10 billion, barely sufficient to cover two months of imports. One new law will add 10 percent duty to taxes on food imports and an extra 5 percent on other imports excluding strategic imports such as gas.
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Research Associate at Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University
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