KIEV, Dec. 17 – Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk has come out against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s calls for greater social spending next year amid concerns the spending would undermine Ukraine’s financial system, officials and reports said Wednesday.

Pynzenyk had a sharp exchange with Tymoshenko as the government had been preparing a draft 2009 budget to be submitted to Parliament and which must be approved before the end of the year.