Afghan afghani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Afghan afghani | |
| ISO 4217 Code | AFN |
|---|---|
| User(s) | Afghanistan |
| Inflation | 16.3% |
| Source | The World Factbook, 2005 est. |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | pul |
| Coins | 1, 2, 5 afghani |
| Banknotes | 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 afghani |
| Central bank | Da Afghanistan Bank |
| Website | www.centralbank.gov.af |
- This article refers to the currency. For other uses, see Afghani.
The afghani is the official currency used in Afghanistan. It is divided into 100 pul. This currency is not pegged to another currency.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] First afghani, 1925 - 2003
The first afghani was introduced in 1925. It had the ISO 4217 code AFA. The afghani replaced the rupee at a rate of 1 afghani = 1.1 rupees. [1]
In 1936, the afghani was pegged at 3.65 afghanis = 1 Indian rupee, whilst in 1947 the peg was set to 13.44 afghanis = 1 Indian rupee.
Prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, warlords, political parties, foreign powers and forgers each made their own afghanis, with no regard to standardization or honoring serial numbers. In December 1996, shortly after the Taliban took control of Afghani institutions, Ehsanullah Ehsan, the chairman of the Taliban's Central Bank, declared most Afghani notes in circulation to be worthless (approximately 100 trillion Afghanis) and cancelled the contract with the Russian firm that had been printing the currency since 1992. Ehsan accused the firm of sending new shipments of Afghani notes to ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani in northern Takhar province. The exchange rate at the time of Ehsan's announcement was 21,000 Afghanis to the U.S. dollar The Northern Alliance then had banknotes produced in Russia which were sold on the markets of Kabul at half their value.
In April, 2000, the afghani traded at 6,400 AFA per USD. By 2002, the afghani was valued at 43,000 AFA per USD.
[edit] Second afghani, 2003 - present
On January 2, 2003, a three-month transition period ended, swapping old afghani banknotes for a new currency. The new afghani received a new ISO 4217 code of AFN and was worth 1000 old afghanis. Thus, the new afghani was valued at 43 AFN per USD.
Prior to the reissue there were more than 15 trillion afghanis in circulation after unrestrained printing under Taliban rule and during wars and occupation.
After depreciating during the last quarter of 2003/04, the afghani has been appreciating steadily, gaining 8 percent against the U.S. dollar between end-March 2004 and end-July 2004. This appreciation, at a time of increasing inflation, appears to reflect a greater willingness by the population to use the afghani as a medium of exchange and as a store of value. This trend appears to be attributable to the relative stability of the exchange rate since the introduction of the new currency, administrative measures aimed at promoting its use, such as the requirement that shopkeepers must price goods in afghanis. Donors are increasingly making payments in afghani instead of U.S. dollars and this appears to be widely accepted.
[edit] Circulating Currency
New denominations come in 1, 2 and 5 afghani coins [1] and banknotes, and the other issue of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 10000 afghani all paper issue.
On October 1, Afghan Central Bank governor Anwar Ul-Haq Ahadi announced that Afghans should use their own afghani currency in daily transactions rather than United States dollars or Pakistani rupees.[citation needed] This was in preparation for October 8 when all prices in the Afghan marketplace were to be specified in afghanis.
[edit] References
| Use Yahoo! Finance: | AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD PKR INR |
| Use XE.com: | AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD PKR INR |
| Use OANDA.com: | AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD PKR INR |
