KIEV, Jan. 12 - Ukraine's foreign currency reserves were down to just over $7.5 billion last year, the lowest level for 10 years and barely enough to cover five weeks of imports, pressured by external debt repayments including to the IMF and to Russia for gas, Reuters reported.

The figures from the central bank starkly illustrated the ex-Soviet country's parlous financial state after a tumultuous year in which street protests chased a Moscow-backed leader from power, Russia annexed Crimea and separatist conflict erupted in the east in which more than 4,700 people have been killed.

The central bank said reserves were at $7.533 billion as of Jan. 1 showing a fall of 63 percent over last year, the steepest yearly fall in Ukraine's post-Soviet history.