Currency

[KC9-3SE]

While I was at work one day, I decided to check out the some of the sites I usually don't visit, well, one that are allowed on the network, like company related sites.

I found a currency converter. So, being the inquisitive guy I am, I decided to see how the USD stood up to other currencies. Here are the particular brands of coinage that are more powerful or stronger, in relation to exchange rates over the American Dollar.

Bear in mind, this information was gathered a this past tuesday.

$1 USD = 0.75 Euro
= 0.87 Azerbajani Manat
= 0.38 Bahraini Dinar
= 0.16 Botswana Pulu*
= 0.51 British Pound
= 0.44 Cyprus Pound
= 0.51 Gibraltar Pound
= 0.71 Jordanian Dinar
= 0.29 Kuwaiti Dinar
= 0.53 Latvian Lat
= 0.32 Maltese Lira
= 0.39 Omani Rial
= 0.33 Papua New Guinea Kina
= 0.50 Tonga Pa'anga
* means strongerest currency in the world.

While seening that info, it made me wonder, how come the Botswanan Pulu is so strong compared to the other world currencies? I never heard about it before, yet I would expect to hear about it more, especially for some rich business people coming to the states, using their insanely strong denomination.

Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and PNG, I kind of expect due to oil, but Tonga? Latvia? Cyprus? Malta!? What is it about these countries currencies that make it so strong compared to the USD? Not that I plan on going there any time soon, but this is just seriously piquing my interest.

Is it because of the lack of a currency exchange between the two countries? Is it because of some hugely successful trade of a particular good that we do not have, or atleast not much of? Is the currency in such low demand that people are willing to deal with the exchange rate, since their business dealing aren't very long in the time side of things?

Oh, by the way, if you do decide to go someplace where everything is cheaper than dirt, try Mozambique. $1 USD is equal to or greater than 25,000 units of their currency, the Metical, well before they phase it out.

[redrum]

A currency's value against another in and of itself isnt really an indicator of anything. Think of them as different units of measure, such as inches vs. centimeters. The Japanese Yen is about the same as one US cent (ok 1.17¢). That doesnt mean that the Japanese economy or cost of products is 100x different than in the US. It is the ways in which exchange rates change over time that reflect the economic conditions in and between the countries in question.

For example, the fact that the dollar is only worth .16 Pulu doesnt mean much. If all of a sudden the dollar was worth .85 Pulu, then something quite significant has happened in the Botswanan economy, and it would cost Botswanans 5x as much as it does currently to purchase goods from the US.

[Jezzadee]

Originally Posted by KC9-3SE

Oh, by the way, if you do decide to go someplace where everything is cheaper than dirt, try Mozambique. $1 USD is equal to or greater than 25,000 units of their currency, the Metical, well before they phase it out.

The currency in Botswana is the Pula, not Pulu. At least it has been every time I've been there. The word also means 'rain', and is used as a greeting.

Mozambican metecais (plural of metecal) are not being phased out. They were revalued in 2005 as new metecais but old will be valid until 2012. And many things in Mozambique are more expensive than in the United States, as is the case in many African countries. In fact Luanda, capital of Angola, is said to be more expensive than New York or London, according to The Economist.

If you want worthless currency, go to Zimbabwe, which has an official interest rate of 1700%. Of course it is growing so fast that by the time I finish typing this it could be 1800%. The price of milk at the official exchange rate would work out at US$70 a litre.

[900t]

Originally Posted by Jezzadee

If you want worthless currency, go to Zimbabwe, which has an official interest rate of 1700%. Of course it is growing so fast that by the time I finish typing this it could be 1800%. The price of milk at the official exchange rate would work out at US$70 a litre.

Ah, Mugabenomics

[redrum]

Originally Posted by Jezzadee

If you want worthless currency, go to Zimbabwe, which has an official interest rate of 1700%. Of course it is growing so fast that by the time I finish typing this it could be 1800%.

Don't you mean inflation rate?

[semyhr]

Hehe, nice to see Latvian Lat mentioned here. Well, basically it was created by one smart dude. After the soviet union collapsed, we got a temporary money here which was working till the economics calmed down. After that we got the Lat, which was like 200 of the old monies. Lat was tied up to SDR I think all of the time to make it a consistent currency. Right now it has been tied up to Euro for quite a while. It has been held up like a stong currency for quite a while already now. Don't know all of the details, while I believe I have studied them at some point, but anyways that is sort of the history how it started up.

[Jezzadee]

Originally Posted by redrum

Don't you mean inflation rate?

Yes