Ukraine cannot afford low tax rates as the financial stability of the country needs to be secured, Finance Minister of Ukraine Natalie Jaresko has said.

"We can't stabilize the economy via the application of low tax rates. We know that if we set the lowest tax rate in the world we would not be able to provide for financial stability, low inflation, and we would not be able to guarantee the successful fulfillment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program," she said while speaking at IV CEE Investment Conference organized by CFA Institute in Kyiv on Friday.

In turn, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Qimiao Fan said that Ukraine needs tax reform it can afford, not tax reform that could be carried out well, hypothetically speaking.