If this program had been adopted, it would have squeezed both ordinary Ukrainians and wealthy Ukrainians, who would see their funds trapped in a depreciating currency. Instead, the Ukrainian central bank did the reverse.80 It permitted billions of dollars to flee the Ukrainian banking system while using its precious exchange reserves to stem the decline in the exchange rate. While prices surged by 50 percent, the result was to favor the most wealthy Ukrainians, who swapped their assets into dollars at favorable exchange rates. All told $8 billion drained from the currency reserves. Whatever
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