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ariary

File:Madagascar_BFM_20000_ariary.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as Madagascan ariary, Malagasy ariary

currency of Madagascar

Key facts

Code
MGA (numeric: 969 )
Plural
The language(s) of this currency do(es) not have a morphological plural distinction.
Symbol
Ar ‎
1 5
iraimbilanja ( franc )
Freq used
100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000 Ar
Rarely used
20,000 Ar
Replaced
Malagasy franc
User s
Madagascar
Central bank
Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara
Website
www .banky-foibe .mg
Inflation
8.8%
Source
The World Factbook , 2013 est.

via Wikipedia infobox

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The ariary (sign: Ar; ISO 4217 code MGA) is the currency of Madagascar. It is notionally subdivided into 5 iraimbilanja and is one of only two non-decimal currencies currently circulating (the other being the Mauritanian ouguiya). The names ariary and iraimbilanja derive from the pre-colonial currency, with ariary (from the Spanish word real) being the name for a silver dollar. Iraimbilanja means "one iron weight" and was the name of an old coin worth 1⁄5 of an ariary. However, as of May 2023, the unit is effectively obsolete since the iraimbilanja has practically no purchasing power, and the coins have fallen into disuse.

History

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ariary” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.