announcing, in essence, that: the ruble/dollar trading band would expand from 5.3–7.1 RUB/USD to 6.0–9.5 RUB/USD; Russia's ruble-denominated debt would be restructured in a manner to be announced at a later date; and, to prevent mass Russian bank default, a temporary 90-day moratorium would be imposed on the payment of some bank obligations, including certain debts and forward currency contracts. On 17 August, the government declared that certain state securities, such as GKOs and OFZs, would be transformed into new securities. At the same time, in addition to widening the currency band, authorities also announced that they intended to allow the RUB/USD rate to move more freely within the wider band. At the time, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (or "MICEX") set a daily "official" exchange rate through a series of interactive auctions based on written bids submitted by buyers and sellers. When the buy and sell prices matched, this "fixed" or "settled" the official MICEX exchange rate, which would then be published by Reuters. The MICEX rate was (and is) commonly used by banks and currency dealers worldwide as the reference exchange rate for transactions involving the Russian ruble and foreign currencies. From 17 to 25 August 1998, the ruble steadily depreciated on the MICEX, moving from 6.43 to 7.86 RUB/USD. On 26 August 1998, the Central Bank terminated dollar-ruble trading on the MICEX, and the MICEX did not fix a ruble-dollar rate that day. On 2 September 1998, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation decided to abandon the "floating peg" policy and float the ruble freely. By 21 September, the exchange rate reached 21 rubles for one US dollar, meaning it lost two-thirds of its value of less than a month earlier. On 28 September, Boris Fyodorov was discharged from the position of the Head of the State Tax Service. The moratorium imposed by the Joint Statement expired on 15 November 1998, and the Russian government and Central Bank did not renew it. Following Russia's default in August, Ukraine also defaulted one month later, in September 1998. Moldova also defaulted in 1998, but ended its default by the end of the year, whereas Russia and Ukraine remained in default until 2000. Inflation Russian inflation in 1998 reached 84 percent and welfare costs grew considerably. Many banks, including Inkombank, Oneximbank, and Tokobank, closed as a result of the crisis. Banking Bankers Trust suffered major losses in the summer