Ukraine approves 2016 budget

Ukraine approved a budget on Friday that included a key condition required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to secure more financial aid.

The country's parliament agreed to adopt the proposal for the 2016 budget with a deficit at 3.7 percent of GDP, which was what the IMF had stipulated prior to the formulation of the bill.

The IMF stipulated that Ukraine, which is on the edge of bankruptcy, must approve that deficit before it would provide the country with its next chunk of financial aid, which will amount to $17.5 billion in total.

The IMF has not said as of now whether or not the approved budget bill met all of its preconditions.

blc/jil (Reuters, dpa)