THE Ukrainian economy would rather forget 2014. But 2015 may be little better: GDP is still shrinking. Gas payments, defence and support for the hryvnia, which lost half its value in 2014, have bled the government dry. Foreign-currency reserves fell by a quarter in December, leaving just $7.5 billion, equivalent to only five weeks’ worth of import cover. The central-bank head talks of a “full-blown financial crisis”. Some $11 billion of debt repayments loom in 2015. That includes a $3 billion Russian bond which falls due in December, but contains an early-repayment provision if Ukraine’s debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 60%. Bond …read more
Source: The Economist
