In Hungary, the central bank hiked interest rates to prop up the battered currency and the government sought help from the International Monetary Fund. Investors, however, sold the forint on concerns over the health of Hungary’s banking system and its ability to finance a large external debt.

The IMF’s decision, which follows the European Central Bank’s granting of an €5bn ($6.3bn, £4bn) credit line to the country’s central bank two weeks ago, makes Hungary the first European Union member state to turn to the IMF in the EU’s history. Local media reported that Ferenc Gyurcsany, Hungary’s prime minister, was briefing MPs from his Socialist Party on Monday that they would have to accept further steep cuts going beyond those announced after the ECB’s intervention.