Ukraine reserves perilously low; lag other emerging markets

By Sujata Rao LONDON (Reuters) - As the political crisis in Ukraine continues, its severely depleted central bank reserves are putting it at serious risk of a balance-of-payments crunch, its metrics looking worse than almost every big emerging economy. With demonstrators blockading government buildings in protest at President Viktor Yanukovich's rejection of closer ties with the European Union, the creaking economy is coming under growing pressure. Based on a comparison of monthly import needs and maturing short-term debt, Ukraine's reserves compare poorly with most of its peers, the following graphic, based on data released by Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Wednesday: http://link.reuters.com/quq25v Ukrainian reserves have almost halved from a 2011 high of close to $40 billion as its currency and exports have faltered. "Among the big high-yielding emerging markets we would think Ukraine is the riskiest one," said David Hauner, head of EEMEA fixed income strategy at BofA-Merrill Lynch Global Research, citing the country's weak reserve adequacy ratios.