Government Looks Overseas For Additional Funds.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced that the Cabinet is not ruling out the possibility of obtaining foreign loans this year to cover a possible shortage of privatization revenues. Tymoshenko did not state the amount of foreign loans that may be obtained. Concorde Capital: The execution of the 2005 privatization program is still uncertain. During the January-June period privatization receipts totaled just USD 132 mln while the annual target set in the budget is USD 1.35 bln. The recent lull in foreign demand for local government bonds made internal borrowing more expensive: while in March 5-year bonds were placed at 6.74%, in June the Finance Ministry managed to place bonds with the same maturity levels at 8.0%. In addition, during  recent placements the government faced some difficulties with long-term bonds. This may be the reason the government is considering borrowing from abroad. The limit for foreign borrowing set in the budget is USD 630 mln.