(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Ukraine's government says it will raise gas prices for domestic consumers by 50% in an effort to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid package. An official at Ukraine's Naftogaz state energy company said the price rise would come in on 1 May, and further rises would be scheduled until 2018, reported the BBC. Ukrainians are accustomed to buying gas at heavily subsidised rates. But the IMF has made subsidy reform a condition of its deal. IMF negotiators are still in Kiev to negotiate a package of measures worth billions of dollars to help Ukraine's interim government plug its budget deficit and meet foreign loan repayments. The IMF is also asking Ukraine to crack down on corruption and end central bank support for the Ukrainian currency. Ukraine's finance minister Oleksandr Shlapak said the country was seeking $15-20bn.
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