One Year of War
Central Bankers in Bunkers Keep Ukraine’s War Economy Afloat
Monetary policy chiefs across the world have had a tough 12 months, but nothing compares with trying to run a financial system from a bomb shelter.
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The deputy governor of Ukraine’s central bank woke early on Feb. 24 to a phone call from his mother, who was abroad. Her flight back to Kyiv had been cancelled. She’d also seen news reports that Russian tanks had crossed the border.
Minutes later, Serhiy Nikolaychuk was racing to the office for an emergency meeting. Thus began a year in which he and his colleagues — more accustomed to supervising banks and targeting inflation from the peaceful confines of a boardroom — would find themselves managing a war economy by pulling monetary policy levers as much in hope as belief.