Ukraine Hryvnia Defense Crumbles Amid Mayhem: East Europe Credit

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As anti-government protests rage on the streets of Kiev, the Ukrainian central bank’s resolve to defend its currency appears to be weakening.

The hryvnia has fallen every trading day but one this month and dropped to a four-year low of 8.45 per dollar yesterday even after the central bank spent half of its reserves since 2011 to prop it up. Derivatives show a 48 percent chance of the currency declining to a record by year-end, while the cost to insure the nation’s debt from default jumped the most in Europe this week.