Title: Ecuador’s one and only official currency is the US Dollar — People Places and Thoughts
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Content: Prior to Ecuador’s official adoption of the US Dollar, inflation and instability of the Ecuadorian Sucre were already causing Ecuadorians to lean on the US Dollar as a secondary currency. With the instability of the Sucre beginning to threaten Ecuador’s economy, Ecuadorian president Jamil Mahuad, a Harvard graduate, implemented an initiative to officially switch Ecuador to the US Dollar. With a hard-peg conversion rate of 25,000 sucres to one dollar, Ecuador began it’s transition, which has overall been considered successful in stabilizing the country’s inflation problem. The US played a cooperative yet minor supporting role in the transition, but the switch was largely executed by Ecuador on its own. Ecuador’s previous central bank, now a museum
Americans in Ecuador will likely notice some interesting monetary differences between Ecuador and other South American countries, as well as some differences from how the US uses its dollars. First, it is far cheaper for Americans to get cash in Ecuador than it is in Ecuador’s neighboring countries. There is of course no currency conversion fee, and withdrawal fees in general are far lower (these fees can add up in some neighboring countries, where withdrawal limits are low). Another difference from Ecuador’s neighbors is that Ecuador’s prices are comparatively higher. Locally produced goods (baked goods, produce, etc.) tend to be more expensive than in the rest of South America, but cheaper than in the US, while imported goods such as electronics are significantly more expensive than in the United States (this is due to non-currency driven reasons).