Uruguayan peso
| Uruguayan peso | |
|---|---|
| peso uruguayo (Spanish) | |
Current coin.
|
|
| ISO 4217 | |
| Code | UYU |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | centésimo |
| Symbol | $ or $U |
| Banknotes | $20, $50, $100, $200, $500, $1000, $2000 |
| Coins | |
| Freq. used | $1, $2, $5, $10 |
| Rarely used | $50 |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) |
 Uruguay
|
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Central Bank of Uruguay |
| Website | www.bcu.gub.uy |
| Valuation | |
| Inflation | 8% |
| Source | Uruguay, December 2009. |
Uruguayan peso has been a name of the Uruguayan currency since Uruguay's settlement by Europeans. The present currency, the peso uruguayo (ISO 4217 code: UYU) was adopted in 1993 and is subdivided into 100 centésimos.
Uruguay obtained monetary stability in 1896, based on the gold standard. This favorable state of affairs ended after World War I. An unsettled period followed. Economic difficulties after World War II produced inflation, which became serious after 1964 and continued into the 1970s.
The peso was replaced on 1 July 1975 by the nuevo peso (new peso; ISO 4217 code: UYN) at a rate of 1 new peso for 1000 old pesos. The nuevo peso was also subdivided into 100 centésimos.
After further inflation, the peso uruguayo (ISO 4217 code: UYU) replaced the nuevo peso on March 1, 1993, again at a rate of 1 new for 1000 old.
Uruguayans became accustomed to the constant devaluation of their currency. Uruguayans refer to periods of real appreciation of the currency as atraso cambiario, which literally means that "the exchange rate is running late". As a consequence of the instability of the local currency, prices for most big-ticket items (real estate, cars and even executives' salaries) are denominated in U.S. dollars.
During the military rule, the peso was on a crawling peg to the dollar. A table of the future value of the dollar was published daily by the government (called the tablita). In 1982, the currency was devalued ("the tablita was broken"), throwing thousands of companies and individuals into bankruptcy. In the 1990s, a new mechanism to provide predictability was introduced, this time in the form of a sliding range, with top and bottom margins, at which the government would intervene. In 2002, after a banking crisis and amid a huge budget deficit, the currency was again allowed to float, losing almost 50% of its value in a couple of weeks, and, again, throwing into bankruptcy thousands of companies and individuals who held debts denominated in US dollars.
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Wikipedia