KIEV, Aug. 19 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, in a statement, disputed comments by President Viktor Yushchenko that the government’s widening budget deficit is a threat for the national currency, the hryvnia.

The hryvnia lost some value against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, closing at 8.37 to the dollar in trading between commercial banks, despite undisclosed interventions from the National Bank of Ukraine.