Buying power of the hryvnia has fallen by 92.9% since 1996, Director of the money flow department of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Viktor Zaivenko said at a briefing on Tuesday.

"Since the monetary reform, the banknotes in Ukraine have been replenished with new denominations of banknotes. The current nominal number of banknotes and coins is excessive and does not fully correspond to the changes that have occurred in the country during this time. Compared with 1996, the purchasing power of UAH 1 now stands at about 7 kopecks, UAH 2 - 14 kopecks, UAH 5 - 36 kopecks, and UAH 10 - 71 kopecks," Zaivenko said.

According to him, the cost of manufacturing coins of small denominations exceeds their cost.