#NoDefault: Ukraine leader's party faces crunch vote for IMF loans

FILE PHOTO: Participants attend a rally on the Volunteer Day honouring fighters, who joined the Ukrainian armed forces in a military conflict in the country's eastern regions, outside the presidential office in Kiev, Ukraine March 14, 2020. The placard with an image of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reads: "COVID-19 won't save you". REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

KIEV (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is the first Ukrainian leader in history to command a single party majority in parliament but its strength will be tested next week as he urges lawmakers to pass reform bills needed to unlock a $8 billion aid package.

Ukraine faces a sharp economic hit from the coronavirus epidemic and parliament must pass banking legislation and lift a ban on the sale of farmland to qualify for a new loan deal from the International Monetary Fund.