As the world grows used to hearing of reserve depletion among less-developed nations defending their currencies from collapse, we thought the following chart might open a few eyes as to the real driver of attempting to create 'stability' by intervention. In the run-up to October's parliamentary election in Ukraine, the Hryvnia became oddly stable - signaling to the world that the current government had everything under control and should be re-elected. Since the re-election, the Ukrainian currency has re-collapsed to record lows. How did the Ukrainian government 'ensure' re-election via 'stability'? By blowing almost $4bn (a record 23% of reserves) in one month to maintain the currency's level... Money well spent we are sure... Charts: Bloomberg