When visiting the Philippine Republic, you should become familiar not only with its culture and laws, but also with the financial side.
The official currency of the Philippines today is the Philippine peso (piso), consisting of 100 centavos (sometimes called centimos).
A brief historical excursion
Officially, this currency began to be used in the Philippines from May 1, 1852. On that day, the country acquired its own national currency, and earlier Spanish reals and pesos of Mexico were used on its territory.
Since 1949, the Central Bank of the Republic of the Philippines, a specially created financial structure of the country, has been responsible for issuing government currency.
Designation. Banknotes and coins
The Philippine currency has an international designation code - PHP. In some cases, it can be denoted by a simple letter P of the Latin alphabet. The Philippine peso has a specially designed “P” symbol with two lines crossing it (₱). An image with one transverse strip is also acceptable. The sign of this currency unit is usually placed in front of the digital designation of the amount, for example: ₱ 2,000 - two thousand pesos, ₱ 100 - one hundred pesos. When using the centavo badge (c), it is placed after the number (15c - fifteen centavos).
To date, the Philippine peso is used in two series of releases: the old and the new. Their differences are that the later version does not contain notes in denominations of 10 and 5 pesos, the rest of the banknotes have the same value (20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000). The format of the modern peso is 160 × 66 mm. There are several modifications to almost every one of them. On the money of the new version, autographs of the President of the Philippine Republic Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rafael Buenaventura, who holds the post of head of the Central Bank of the country, flaunt.
In addition to paper money, metal coins in denominations of 10, 5 and 1 pesos, as well as five, ten and twenty-five centimos, are in use.
Interesting Facts
- The 5 centavo coin has a small hole in the center.
- Denominations of 5 and 10 pesos have not been issued for quite some time, but are in use (about the same as Russian 10 rubles). Numismatists from their own world really appreciate them, so if you get such a banknote you can save it as a souvenir.
- In the Philippines, infrequently used large banknotes. This is due to the mass poverty of the population, so when calculating banknotes more expensive than 100 pesos, problems with issuing change can arise.
- There is a jubilee banknote of 2000 letters dedicated to the centenary of the first republic. It was released in 1998. It is significantly larger than the standard currency of the Philippines. Its format is 216x133 mm.
- In the same year, an extremely large banknote of 100 thousand pesos and 216 × 356 mm was issued. It is so huge that it was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest paper bill in history.
Exchange operations
It is undesirable to go to the Philippines with only the rubles of the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that now the situation with the exchange of Russian currency has become somewhat better than a few years ago, there are still very few points ready to work with it. Even if you are lucky enough to find such a place, the exchange rate of the Philippine peso to the ruble will be truly predatory.
The reverse situation is with the European currency and US dollars. They can be exchanged almost everywhere, any bank can easily change this money. Banknotes of some other countries can also be exchanged, but their list is not too large.
The US dollar is the currency with which the Philippines is most eager to work. Moreover, banknotes of large denomination are considered more attractive. Their exchange is carried out at a favorable rate. Therefore, it makes sense to facilitate the payment of services and goods to leave small bills for tips, and exchange large money for local currency.
Where can I exchange Filipino pesos for any other money? Depending on the distance from the capital of the country, the benefits of the operation will vary. The farther the exchange office from Manila, the less attractive the conditions.
To date, the peso to ruble exchange rate is approximately 1.15 rubles per Philippine peso. To the dollar, respectively, about ₱ 0.02.
There should not be any acute problems with currency exchange, because in any settlement with a large concentration of tourists there are a huge number of points that carry out currency exchange operations.
Credit cards and plastic cards
It is best to use cash in the country, although using electronic money from a card is also possible. In this way, you can easily pay in large stores, hotels and other institutions in the capital of the island state. There are also ATMs with which you can withdraw cash. In the city of Sabanga, some ATMs even have a Russian-language menu. Transaction restrictions may be ten or five thousand pesos.
Some hotels in Manila and other tourist cities may temporarily block a fairly large amount of money if payment is made by credit card. This is a kind of deposit. Refunds to a bank account occur after 45 days. Because of this, it’s easier to make a payment by pre-cashed cash at the nearest ATM.
Conclusion
The currency of the Philippines is very peculiar, there are quite a few nuances and features associated with its use and exchange. It is worth considering that the most popular foreign currency in the Philippines is the American dollar, which can be easily and profitably exchanged anywhere. Other currencies may cause problems, as they are not always ready to work with them.