Currency of Ecuador: description, rate

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

To date, the official currency of Ecuador is the US dollar (USD). However, the centavo change coin, left over from the previous currency, is still used throughout the country.

Dollarization of the country

In 2000, the government of Ecuador decided to replace the current national currency with the US dollar. This was due to the desire to increase the interest of tourists from the United States to Ecuador, as well as to simplify the financial industry in the country, because. the national currency was too unstable and weak.

Description

As mentioned above, the currency of Ecuador today is the US dollar, which is no different from what is in use in the United States. There is no need to describe in detail the appearance of American dollars, since it is known to almost every person on the planet.

All banknotes are used: from one to one hundred dollars. ButAmerican coins are practically not used, since the national change coins of centavo remained in circulation. They are used by local residents, they are given out in stores for change.

Former currency of Ecuador

Until 2000, the official state currency of the country was the Ecuadorian sucre, which was divided into 100 centavos. This monetary unit was put into circulation in 1884 and was used until April 2000. At the end of the 20th century. Ecuador was in a deep economic crisis, which caused the national currency to undergo hyperinflation and constantly depreciate. This greatly exacerbated the already difficult economic situation.

The Ecuadorian sucre was named after one of the Bolivian presidents, Antonio José Sucre. By the end of the 90s. in use were banknotes in denominations from 5 to 50,000 sucre.

Currency of Ecuador: exchange rate

The modern US dollar in Ecuador has the same exchange rate as the dollar in other countries. To date, the currency of Ecuador against the ruble is approximately 58-59 rubles, this is the exchange rate for the US dollar today. The dollarization of the country has significantly eased the economic situation in the country, tourists from all over the world, especially from America, began to come to it more actively.

Russian travelers are also more comfortable using dollars than other currencies. The currency of Ecuador before the dollar was worth very little. For 100 Ecuadorian sucres, they gave approximately 0.25 Russian rubles. This is despite the fact that the ruble is also a very inexpensive currency.

Exchange transactions

Having American dollars with him, the tourist automatically frees himself from the need to look for exchange offices. However, when bringing other currency, the traveler must find a place where he can exchange his money for American dollars. There are no particular problems with the exchange of banknotes in the country. At the airport, hotels, almost all banks and exchange offices you can exchange money for dollars.

The Russian ruble does not work everywhere, but in quite a few places. The number of visitors from Russia is small, but growing every year, so financial institutions began to show more interest in the ruble.

However, Ecuador is most willing to work with the euro and the Canadian dollar, since after the United States, the largest number of tourists come to the country from Canada and Europe, except for the Latin American countries with which Ecuador borders. Quite a few travelers come to the country from there, but this is of little interest to Russian tourists, because it does not facilitate the situation with currency exchange.

Due to the fact that the US dollar is used in Ecuador, any Russian bank actually has the currency of Ecuador. The exchange rate against the ruble is identical to the usual US dollar, since there are no differences from it. Often the exchange rate in Russia from rubles to dollars is more profitable than the exchange of rubles for dollars in Ecuador. However, this is not always the case, so before the trip it is better to find out where it is more profitable to exchange money and, based on this, already decide on the place of currency exchange.

Conclusion

Ecuador is a small state in South America, its economy is rather underdeveloped, although in recent years the country has experienced stable economic growth. Perhaps the improvement is partly due to the country's transition from the national currency to the US dollar. In any case, this had a positive impact on the economic situation in the country, although at first the locals took such a financial reform with hostility.

Almost any tourist who wants to visit this state benefits from the fact that the currency of Ecuador is the dollar, as this greatly simplifies the exchange of banknotes. In addition, the commission for such operations in the country is charged relatively small. As a rule, it is about 2-4% of the exchange amount. For comparison: in Russia, the commission can exceed 10%, but there are organizations that do not charge commissions for exchange transactions.

Despite the fact that the dollar is the official currency of the country, there are still some features of the financial structure in Ecuador. A visitor should take into account that Ecuadorian centavos can be easily given to you as change in a store or cafe, since they have not been withdrawn from circulation. This happens mainly in small provincial shops. Large chain supermarkets, restaurants and hotels always use only dollars.

Besides, when shopping in a small store or local market, it is better not to pay with large dollar bills, because the seller may simply not have change.