Economy, Currency and Banking

In September 1996 Ukraine introduced its new currency, the hryvnia (5.44 hryvni equal U.S.$1, 2000 average). The currency of the Soviet period, the ruble, ceased to be legal tender in 1992 when it was replaced with a temporary coupon currency, the karbovanets. In 1993 already high inflation reached hyperinflationary levels, with an average annual rate of 4,735 percent; however, a strict monetary policy introduced in late 1994 significantly reduced inflation in 1995 and 1996. The country’s bank of issue is the National Bank of Ukraine, founded in 1991 and located in Kyiv.