Less than two weeks after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a US$17.5 billion bailout loan for Ukraine, the central bank tightened capital controls to prevent the country from running out of foreign currency.

In spite of what has been pledged, Ukraine hasn't received a major injection of IMF cash since a $1.4 billion disbursement on Sept. 3, the lender's website shows. With its foreign reserves dropping 61 percent, to $6.4 billion, in the four months through January, the country's “cupboard is basically bare,” said Timothy Ash from Standard Bank Group Plc.

Central bank Governor Valeriya Gontareva announced new limits on the amount of foreign exchange available to importers, and banned banks from lending money for clients to buy foreign currency. More restrictions may follow as the country's economy contracts amid a deadly conflict with pro-Russian rebels in the country's east, Gontareva said on Monday. The hryvnia fell as much as 11 percent per dollar and bonds tumbled.