Cape Verde escudo

Cape Verde escudo
Esc or $
The escudo (sign: ; ISO 4217: CVE) is the currency of the Republic of Cape Verde. One escudo is subdivided into one hundred centavos.

Amounts are generally written by using the cifrão as the decimal separator, such as for 20 escudos, or for 1000.

The escudo became the currency of Cape Verde in 1914. It replaced the Cape Verdean real at a rate of 1000 réis = 1 escudo. Until 1930, Cape Verde used Portuguese coins, although banknotes were issued by the Banco Nacional Ultramarino specifically for Cape Verde beginning in 1865.

Until independence in 1975, the Cape Verde escudo was equal to the Portuguese escudo. Subsequently, it depreciated, declining by about 30 per cent in 1977–78 and by a further 40 per cent in 1982–84. Thereafter, it remained fairly stable against the Portuguese escudo.

In mid-1998 an agreement with Portugal established a pegged rate of 1 Portuguese escudo = 0.55 Cape Verdean escudos. Since the replacement of the Portuguese escudo with the euro, the Cape Verdean escudo has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 1 EUR = 110.265 CVE. This peg is supported by a credit facility from the Portuguese government.

Country
  • Cape Verde
    Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an archipelago and island country in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about 4033 km2. These islands lie between 600 and 850 km west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa. The Cape Verde islands form part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Savage Isles.

    The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, thus establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Because the Cape Verde islands were located in a convenient location to play a role in the Atlantic slave trade, Cape Verde became economically prosperous during the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. It declined economically in the 19th century after the suppression of the Atlantic slave trade, and many of its inhabitants emigrated during that period. However, Cape Verde gradually recovered economically by becoming an important commercial center and useful stopover point along major shipping routes. In 1951, Cape Verde was incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal, but its inhabitants continued to campaign for independence, which they achieved in 1975.