Dominican Peso

Overview

The Dominican Peso (DOP) is the official currency in the Dominican Republic. The symbol for the Peso is $. To distinguish between the US Dollar and the Peso the symbol RD$ is used. The subdivision for the Peso is centavos; 1 peso = 100 centavos.

Economy

• The Dominican Republic’s economy is rated 2nd in the Caribbean.
• Tourism and agriculture play an important role in the economy.
• The tourism industry contributed more than 1 billion USD a year. Recently industry overtook agriculture.
• The main industries are textiles, cement, gold mining, tobacco, tourism, and sugar processing.
• Export products are meats, gold, sugar, silver, ferronickel, consumer goods, coffee, tobacco, and cocoa.
• Import products are fabrics and cotton, chemicals, petroleum, foodstuffs, and pharmaceuticals.
• Inflation is estimated at 6.3% and unemployment at 14.2%.
• The country trades mainly with the USA and is a free-trade zone.

History

• The Peso was introduced in 1844 after the country gained independence from Haiti.
• In 1877, the Peso was subdivided into centavos.
• A second currency called the Franco was introduced to the Dominican Republic from 1891 to 1897 and was used as an additional currency.
• In 1905, the US Dollar replaced the Peso at 5 Pesos = 1 USD.
• In 1937, the Peso Oro was distributed and was used along with the Dollar until 1947.
• In 1947, the first Peso banknotes were printed and distributed by the Central Bank.
• In 1961, the banknotes were extended to the lower Peso Oro notes.
• Since 1992, limited editions of the 2000 and 500 Peso Oro notes have been issued. In 2010 the 20 Peso polymer note was issued.