Zairean zaire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| User(s) | Zaire |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | makuta |
| 1/1000 | sengis |
| makuta | ? |
| sengis | ? |
| Coins | 1967-1993, 10 Sengis, 1, 5, 10, 20 makuta, 1, 5, 10 Zaires |
| Banknotes | 1967-1993, 10, 20, 50 makuta, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, 500,000, 1,000,000, 5,000,000 Zaires.
1993-1997, 1, 5, 10, 50 makuta, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000, Nouveaux Zaires. |
| Central bank | Banque du Zaïre |
The zaïre was the currency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then of the Republic of Zaïre from 1967 until 1997. There were two distinct currencies.
[edit] Zaïre, 1967-1993
The zaïre (symbol: "Z", or sometimes "Ƶ") was introduced in 1967, replacing the franc at an exchange rate of 1 zaïre = 1000 francs. The zaïre was subdivided into 100 makuta (singular: likuta, symbol: "K"), each of 100 sengi (symbol: "s"). However, the sengi was worth very little and the only sengi denominated coin was the 10 sengi piece issued in 1967.
Coins were issued in denominations ranging from 10 sengi up to 10 zaïre. Banknotes went from 10 makuta up to 5 million zaïres. Unusually for any currency, it was common practice to write cash amounts with three zeros after the decimal place, even after inflation had greatly devalued the currency.
[edit] New zaïre, 1993-1997
The new zaïre ("nouveau zaïre" in French, symbol "NZ") replaced the earlier currency in 1993 at an exchange rate of 1 new zaïre = 3,000,000 old zaïres. It was subdivided into 100 new makuta (symbol: "NK"). This currency was only issued in banknote form (1 new likuta up to 1 million new zaïres) and suffered from similarly high inflation to its predecesor.
The new zaïre was replaced by the franc at an exchange rate of 100,000 to 1 when Zaïre became the Democratic Republic of Congo once more.
[edit] External links
fr:Zaïre (monnaie) ja:ザイール (通貨)
