NBU: Ukrainian monetary reform of 1996 among the most successful ones

The Ukrainian monetary reform of 1996 has gone down in history as the most liberal and transparent of monetary reforms, which resulted in being one of the most successful ones, Olena Shcherbakova, the director of monetary policy at the National Bank of Ukraine said in the interview with The Prague Post.

The reform allowed Ukraine to leave the temporary currency in history along with the major negative hits it received in the early 1990s: hyperinflation, rapid devaluation, abandonment of cash usage by the population, widespread resort to barter in economic relations, etc.

While overcoming the abovementioned problems, the necessity of introducing a currency that would be free from such a past became evident. This would make the new monetary unit a reliable instrument for payments, circulation and savings.

“Also important was the fact that the reform wasn't confiscatory in nature, and the exchange took place without any limitations. When the hryvnia was introduced, karbovantses were exchanged for hryvnias at 100,000:1. For a given period of time, when using cash, both the hryvnia and the karbovantses were used simultaneously. This relieved the pressure on the populace and established, from the very beginning, confidence in the New National Monetary Unit,” Shcherbakova mentioned.

Moreover, the banker emphasized that the reform of 1996 became successful mostly due to serious preparations and the choice of the most opportune time for its implementation.