1.   Boosting that rate, in effect, encourages investors to hold rubles and discourages investors who have rubles from selling them for dollars.

2.   Thousands of people lost millions of rubles by failing to exchange old notes on time or by having more rubles than they were permitted to exchange.

3.   Like thousands of other Russians, Krylova and her boyfriend have rushed out to buy something durable with whatever rubles they have in cash.

4.   Many Russians have both ruble and dollar accounts in commercial banks.