From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A
de facto currency
is a unit of money that is not
legal tender
in a country but is treated as such by most of the populace. The
United States dollar
and the
European Union
euro
are the most common de facto currencies.
Euro
[
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]
Andorra
used the euro unofficially prior to June 2013, at which point the euro became its official currency. The euro remains the de facto currency in
Kosovo
and
Montenegro
.
United States dollar
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]
Countries using the United States dollar as their de facto currency include
Aruba
and
Cambodia
, where most hotels, restaurants, and transportation are priced in dollars;
[1]
Dominican Republic
where it is acceptable in many places, including airports to pay temporary visa fees for non-US/Dominican visits;
Iraq
, where United States commercial, governmental and military involvement due to the
Iraq War
and the
Iraqi Dinar
's low value has made the US dollar highly preferred;
[
citation needed
]
Timor-Leste
,
Lebanon
,
[
citation needed
]
El Salvador
,
Ecuador
and
Panama
;
[
citation needed
]
Venezuela
where they accept the USD for practically everything as a substitute for the highly inflated Venezuelan bolivar.
Russian ruble
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]
The disputed territories of
Abkhazia
and
South Ossetia
and
Crimea
have the
Russian ruble
as their de facto currency.
South African rand and Botswana pula
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Due to
hyperinflation in Zimbabwe
in 2006 to 2008, the government of Zimbabwe has allowed circulation of foreign currency since September 2008 and local currency became obsolete since 12 April 2009. Both
South African rand
and
Botswana pula
circulate in Zimbabwe.
Canadian dollar
[
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]
The small
French
island of
St. Pierre and Miquelon
has the
Canadian dollar
as its de facto currency.
[2]
Hong Kong Dollar
[
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]
The Hong Kong Dollar is widely accepted in Macau, even though it has not gained official recognition from Autoridade Monetaria de Macau (AMCM) as legal tender in Macau. The Macauese Pacata is pegged to the Hong Kong Dollar at 1.029(buy)/1.032(sell). However, many merchants who accept Hong Kong Dollars may offer to pay the difference between two currencies, such practice is often called '不補水' in Chinese. If merchandise priced in Patacas is paid for in Hong Kong Dollars, and if merchants practice '不補水', prices in Patacas may be rounded up to the equivalent in Hong Kong Dollars, and merchants would offer change in Hong Kong dollars or the amount of Hong Kong Dollars paid would be automatically converted into Patacas and merchants would then offer change in Patacas.
References
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