A $379 Billion Hole Emerges in Developing Nations’ War Chests

  • Emerging markets are struggling to defend their currencies
  • Derivatives traders are betting on even more pain to come
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The US dollar’s relentless climb higher is blowing a hole in the finances of developing nations.

Policy makers in these countries are, collectively, burning through the equivalent of more than $2 billion of foreign reserves every weekday in an attempt to prop up their currencies against the dollar. In total this year, they’ve drained reserves -- the emergency stash they hold to fend off severe economic crises -- by $379 billion.