For you who do come visit or even settle in our beautiful country, It is very important to have a knowledge in general on the Malagasy currency.
Hôtel★★★ restaurant gourmand Coco Lodge à Majunga vous donne ici les informations et principes importants à connaitre …
The official currency of Madagascar on January 1st 2005 is the Malagasy Ariary (MGA), which was reintroduced to replace the Malagasy franc.
An Ariary (AR) is divided into 5 one thousand.
The word Ariary literally means a silver dollar, and it was first introduced in 1961 équivalent à 5 Malagasy francs.
The notes always showed in small print the francs they represented in order to avoid any misunderstandings..
But on the new banknotes this is no longer there.
There are MGA tickets 10 000, 5 000, 2 OOO, 1 000, 500, 200 and 100.
There are also pieces even of 1 to 50 AR.
L’une d’elle de 50 Ar is very beautiful with a carved baobab (view the photo).
One US dollar is approximately 2 200 Ar and 1 Euro environ 3 000 Ar …mais comme nous le savons tous les cours de changes sont instables et ils changent constamment, il faut donc vous renseigner auprès d’une banque ou sur internet.
It should be noted that the Malagasy franc is no longer official since 2005, but beware travelers, you will always find prices in francs, especially in some rural areas.
So when you see or hear the amount of money you have to pay, don't forget to ask how much it is worth in Ariary before paying.
You will find people who want to change money for you on the streets or at the airport.
Mais attention, l’échange d’argent au marché par le biais de ses spéculateurs est illégal.
Only the bank and the exchange offices are authorized.
Travelers checks can only be exchanged at BNI/Crédit Lyonnais which has representatives in all major cities.
You will be required to show the original receipt.
La plupart des cartes de crédit ont commencé à être acceptés dans les meilleurs hôtels, major travel agencies since Madagascar was connected by a high-speed submarine cable which now allows it to exchange data with Europe 200.
ATMs are present in almost all banks.
It is important to know that with your visa card, you can withdraw maximum 150 Euro. Of course, you can repeat the operation as many times as you want but you will be billed each time with the corresponding bank charges.
Some banks still offer the possibility of withdrawing higher amounts., in the office, but it is a long process.
