Ethiopian currency (birr): exchange rate, history and description

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Ethiopia is actually the only country on the African continent that has never been a colony. Therefore, the culture, history and, of course, the Ethiopian currency is very interesting and original.

Despite the absence of a colonial past, Ethiopia is considered one of the poorest countries in the world.

Ethiopian currency: name

The national currency in this country is called "birr". But it received such a name only in 1976, and earlier it was customary to call it the Ethiopian dollar. It is also interesting that until 1931 it was customary in the world community to call the country Abyssinia, although the Ethiopians themselves never identified themselves that way.

When the request of the Ethiopian emperor, expressed on behalf of the whole people, was accepted, Abyssinia was renamed Ethiopia, and the national bank from the "Bank of Abyssinia" reincarnated into the "Bank of Ethiopia". In connection with these changes in the history of the Ethiopian currency, two periods can be distinguished: the Abyssinian (until 1931) and the Ethiopian (from 1931 to the present day).

A Brief History

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. the Ethiopians did not have their own currency, and Maria Theresa thalers were in circulation, which were then activelyused in many regions of the world, as well as in trade.

For the first time, the original national Ethiopian currency Birr began to be issued only in 1894. Then one birr was equated to the thaler of Maria Theresa. In turn, the birr was subdivided into 20 hershey and 32 bessa. Since 1915, in addition to metal coins, the Bank of Abyssinia also began to issue paper banknotes. It is interesting that the word thaler was still used to designate the name of the banknote in French.

In 1931, as noted above, a financial reform was carried out, during which not only the name of the Ethiopian currency was changed, but also the monetary system switched to the decimal system. From now on, one birr began to be subdivided into 100 metonya.

In the period from 1936 to 1945. The birr was withdrawn from circulation and replaced by the Italian lira as Fascist Italy occupied Ethiopia. After the defeat of Germany and Italy in World War II, the national currency was returned to the country.

Coins and banknotes

Over the past 100 years, metal coins have been repeatedly re-issued in Ethiopia. This happened in 1944 (1936), 1977 (1969), 2004-2005 (1996-1998). In parentheses are the years according to the Ethiopian calendar, which lags behind the European one by about 7.5-8 years.

It is worth noting that all the inscriptions are indicated exclusively in Amharic - the official state language of Ethiopia.

As for banknotes, the inscriptions on them are also indicated only in the state languagecountries.

Ethiopian Birr exchange rate

Today, the birr is a fairly stable currency. For one American dollar, you can get about twenty-three and a half birr, respectively, in one birr there are about 0.04 US dollars. If we compare the Ethiopian currency with the single European one, then there will be almost 28 birr in one euro, that is, about 0.04 euros in one ETB.

In comparison with the Russian ruble, the birr looks somewhat more advantageous, since it is almost 2 and a half times higher in value. For one ruble, you can get approximately 0.4 Ethiopian birr.

Exchange operations and cashless payments

As noted above, although Ethiopia has never been a colony, and Addis Ababa is considered the center of Africa, the country's economy is in a deplorable state. This is a backward, agrarian state, where tourists do not come often. In this regard, currency exchange can be quite difficult. It is best to come here with dollars or euros. They can be exchanged at the airport, major hotels, and some banks and other financial institutions.

In some places you can also exchange British pounds or Canadian dollars, as well as several currencies of neighboring countries, but it is better not to bring any other banknotes here. Not only are there very few exchange offices, but there are almost no ATMs here. Only in the capital of the country and some other large cities can you find ATMs or pay by bank transfer in stores.

Baway from large settlements, many have not even heard of cashless payments and ATMs. Therefore, having decided to visit this country, you should immediately attend to the question of how to exchange your money for local currency.

However, despite the fact that the country has a pronounced agrarian type of economy, a strong lag behind developed countries and an extremely low standard of living of the population, some positive development trends are still observed. Tourism is becoming one of the important sectors of the economy, so the infrastructure aimed at improving the conditions for the stay of foreigners in the republic has already begun to actively develop. This includes the emergence of new exchange offices and the development of the banking system.

In closing

Today Ethiopia is one of the most interesting countries in Africa. The original, authentic culture, incredible natural beauty and the cheapness of holidays in this country attract more and more tourists from different parts of the world.

In addition to the culture of the country, the history of its money is also interesting. In Russia, and in many other countries, few people even know what the Ethiopian currency is called, since it is not in great demand on the world currency market.

Be that as it may, before going to any country, you need to find out everything about its monetary system in order to avoid possible problems with the exchange and payment for purchases and services. It is especially important to understand this issue when a visit to a country like Ethiopia is planned, since there are very few banks here and almost nowhere they acceptcredit cards. If you take care of the financial issue in advance, then a visit to Ethiopia will be much easier.

The Ethiopian currency, like the country itself, has come a long historical way, so its history is no less interesting. The money of the country is the face of the nation. Someone may agree with this statement, but someone may not, but the fact remains that money plays a very important role in any state.