LVIV, May 27 – President Viktor Yanukovych, responding to mounting criticism that his administration has been doing little to improve the economy, said Thursday he will shortly outline an economic reform package to be implemented.

“As soon as next week, I will be announcing the concept of economic reforms,” Yanukovych said addressing a meeting of local government officials in Lviv. “I hope we will unite majority of people in our society allowing them to find a place in implementing this program.”

He gave little detail of the future reforms, except that the package will be aimed at boosting economic growth.

“We know well that the economy is like a sensitive woman, whom one cannot approach in a simple way, carelessly,” Yanukovych said. He said the reforms will target taxes among other things.

Meanwhile, the reforms will probably not affect the energy sector since the government had recently banned any hikes in natural gas prices for households.

The gas price hike is a crucial measure in balancing the government’s budget in 2010 and is one of the key demands from the International Monetary Fund for resumption of lending.

Nestor Shufrych, the emergency situations minister, said that only after a special approval from the central government can a local government go ahead and hike the prices.

“The local governments are prohibited from hiking the tariffs,” Shufrych told Ukrayina television. “If there is a situation that the tariff [hike] is justified, then by the approval of the government – after a careful expertise and after the move is explained to the people of Ukraine – the local government can do it.”

Yanukovych’s plans to announce the reforms comes a day after the People’s Committee for Defense of Ukraine, the country’s opposition body, urged the IMF to postpone lending until the government launches economic reforms and improves democracy.

Ukraine requested the IMF to approve $19 billion 2.5-year lending package, of which the government hopes to receive $4.5 billion in June.

The IMF, however, earlier this month postponed indefinitely its decision on sending a team to Ukraine amid concerns over the government’s apparently unrealistic budget deficit forecast.

Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko, who supervises the talks with the IMF, said that Ukraine should go ahead and cut its budget deficit in order to boost investor confidence. (tl/ez)