IMF aid to Ukraine depends on parliament: chairman
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine will not receive billions of dollars in aid from the International Monetary Fund to stabilize its economy unless parliament acts quickly to approve enabling legislation, parliament's chairman said on Wednesday.
As parliament met, free of the protests over an early election that have halted proceedings for a week, the hryvnia currency sank to a record low.
Central bank chairman Volodymyr Stelmakh warned that failure to secure the $16.5 billion in credits would lead to "spiraling inflation, double-digit inflation, very high. As well as moral discredit and declaring default."
Parliament's chairman, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, told deputies that the credit, agreed in principle with the IMF and seen as vital to stabilize Ukraine's financial and banking system, depended directly on their actions.
"I spoke yesterday with the IMF. Its examination of the question of extending credits to Ukraine depends on the actions of Ukraine's parliament," Yatsenyuk said.
"If we vote today, they examine it today. If we vote tomorrow, they examine it tomorrow."
President Viktor Yushchenko's top economic adviser told reporters that Ukraine was likely to fall into recession next year with negative growth of 2 percent.
Parliament has been deadlocked over Yushchenko's dissolution of parliament and call for a snap election in December.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the president's estranged ally, denounces as "criminal" the notion of an election against the background of world financial crisis.
Her supporters have blocked debate in parliament to guard against any attempt to finance the election.
On Ukraine's interbank currency market, the hryvnia plunged to a new record low of 6.7/6.95 to the dollar despite repeated central bank intervention. The bank offered to sell dollars at 5.7 against 5.5 on Tuesday.
(Writing by Ron Popeski, editing by Mike Peacock)
