Cambodian riel · Lablypedia

Popular belief suggests that the name of the currency comes from the Mekong river fish riĕl ("small fish" in Khmer). It is more likely that it derives from the high-silver content Spanish-American dollar, whose value is eight reales, a coin widely used for international trade in Asia and the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries. Thus, the riel shares the same etymology as various Middle Eastern currencies called "rial", which are all derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word real.

Concurrent use with foreign currencies

In rural areas the riel is used for virtually all purchases, large and small. However, the United States dollar is also used, particularly in urban Cambodia and tourist areas. In areas near the Thai border, the Thai baht is also accepted.

Dollarization started in the 1980s and continued to the early 90s when the United Nations contributed humanitarian aid, refugees began sending remittances home, and inflation as high as 177% per year eroded confidence in the riel. From 1991 to 1993, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia stationed 22,000 personnel throughout Cambodia, whose spending represented a large part of the Cambodian economy.

While the riel remains in common use in the provinces, the major cities and tourist areas heavily use the U.S. dollar. The latter is dispensed in ATMs, accepted in virtually all purchases, and dollar quotations are required to price hotel rooms, airline tickets and significant financial transactions. The exchange rate of 4,000 riels for one dollar is widely known and employed frequently in retail trade, with riel paid out for change in fractions of a dollar.

In June 2020, the National Bank of Cambodia announced the phaseout from wide circulation of small U.S. dollar banknotes of $1, $2 and $5. This is aimed at reducing the cost of keeping the smaller U.S. notes in circulation, as well as increasing the use of the riel in lieu of these notes. No fees were to be charged to collect these small notes before 31 August 2020, but after that date banks were expected to incur costs of transporting these notes.

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History

Cambodian tical

Prior to the year 1875, the tical was the currency of Cambodia as well as Siam and Laos. However, as a result of French intervention in the region, the tical in Cambodia was replaced in 1875 by the Cambodian franc.

Cambodian franc

The franc was the currency of Cambodia between 1875 and 1885. It was equal to the French franc and was similarly subdivided into 100 centimes. It replaced the tical and was replaced by the piastre.

French Indochinese piastre

The piastre was introduced in French Indochina in 1885 at par with the Spanish-American silver dollar, and was in use until 1952.

First riel (1953–1975)

In 1953, the Cambodia branch of the Institut d'Émission des États du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viet-nam issued notes dual-denominated in piastre and riel with the riel being at par with the piastre. At the same time, the two other branches of the Institut had similar arrangements with the đồng in South Vietnam and the kip in Laos. The piastre itself was derived from Spanish pieces of eight (pesos).

The riel was at first subdivided into 100 centimes (abbreviated to cent. on the coins), but this changed in 1959 to 100 sen (សេន). For the first few years, the riel and piastre circulated alongside each other. The first riel banknotes were also denominated in piastres.

First issue, 1955–56: 1 riel, 5 riels, 10 riels, 50 riels.
Second issue, 1956: 1 riel, 20 riels, 50 riels, 100 riels, 500 riels.
Third issue, 1956: 100 riels, 500 riels.
Fourth issue, 1963: 5 riels, 10 riels, 100 riels.
Fifth issue, 1972: 100 riels*, 500 riels, 1,000 riels*, 5,000 riels*. (* Unissued.)

Coins: The 10, 20 and 50 centimes of 1953 and sen coins were minted in aluminum and were the same size as the corresponding att and xu (su) coins of Laos and South Vietnam (though without the holes in the Lao coins). A 1 riel coin about the size of a U.S. nickel was to be issued in 1970, as part of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization's coin program, but was not released, perhaps due to the overthrow of the government of Norodom Sihanouk by Lon Nol.

Khmer Rouge (1975–1980, 1993–1999)

Although the Khmer Rouge printed banknotes, they were not issued as money was abolished after the Khmer Rouge took control of the country.

Sixth issue, 1975: 0.1 riel (1 kak), 0.5 riels (5 kaks), 1 riel, 5 riels, 10 riels, 50 riels, 100 riels.

In 1993, the Khmer Rouge printed a series of coloured banknotes for limited use in territories under their control.

Regional issue, 1993: 5 riels, 10 riels, 20 riels, 50 riels, 100 riels.

Second riel (1980–present)

After the Vietnamese attacked Khmer Rouge in 1978, the riel was re-established as Cambodia's national currency on 20 March 1980, initially at a value of four riels to one U.S. dollar. It is subdivided into 10 kaks (from the Hokkien 角 kak) or 100 sens (from the French cent). Because there was no money for it to replace and a severely disrupted economy, the central government gave away the new money to the populace in order to encourage its use. Around the same time, the United Nations gave humanitarian aid to Cambodia in U.S. dollars, and placed people in Cambodia to distribute it, so the populace came to prefer the more stable U.S. dollar. As the supply of riels grew rapidly during the early 1990s, the riel devalued from four riels to the dollar in 1980 to a rate of around 4000 riels per dollar in the 2000s and around 4100 riels per dollar in the 2020s, where it has remained stable ever since.

Seventh issue, 1979: 0.1 riel (1 kak), 0.2 riels (2 kaks), 0.5 riels (5 kaks), 1 riel, 5 riels, 10 riels, 20 riels, 50 riels.
Eighth issue, 1987: 5 riels, 10 riels.
Ninth issue, 1990–92: 50 riels, 100 riels, 500 riels.
Tenth issue, 1992–93: 200 riels, 1,000 riels*, 2,000 riels*. (* Unissued.)
Eleventh issue, 1995: 1,000 riels, 2,000 riels, 5,000 riels, 10,000 riels, 20,000 riels, 50,000 riels, 100,000 riels.
Twelfth issue, 1995–99: 100 riels, 200 riels, 500 riels, 1,000 riels.
Thirteenth issue, 2001–07: 50 riels, 100 riels, 500 riels, 1,000 riels, 2,000 riels, 5,000 riels, 10,000 riels, 50,000 riels.
Fourteenth issue; 2008: 20,000 riels
Fifteenth issue; 2012–22: 100 riels, 200 riels, 500 riels, 1,000 riels, 2,000 riels, 5,000 riels, 10,000 riels, 20,000 riels, 50,000 riels, 100,000 riels.
Commemorative issue; 2012-2024: 1,000 riels, 2,000 riels, 15,000 riels, 30,000 riels, 200,000 riels

Banknotes

100 riels (2001-08-09 and 2015-01-14)
200 riels (1995 and 2022-11-14)
500 riels (2002-04-04 and 2014-01-14)
1,000 riels (2006-01-06 and 2017-10-25)
2,000 riels (2008-01-03, 2013-11-09 and 2022-11-14)
5,000 riels (2001-04-06 and 2017-10-25)
10,000 riels (2001-04-06 and 2015-05-07)
15,000 riels (2019)
20,000 riels (2008-05-12 and 2018)
30,000 riels (2021-10-18)
50,000 riels (2001-04-06 and 2014-05-06)
100,000 riels (1995 and 2013-05-14)
200,000 riels (2024-10-16)

Coins

The first coins were 5 sen pieces, minted in 1979 and made of aluminum. No more coins were minted until 1994, when denominations of 50, 100, 200 and 500 riels were introduced. However, these are rarely found in circulation.

Symbol

The symbol for the riel is defined starting in version 3.0 of the Unicode Standard, as U+17DB ៛ KHMER CURRENCY SYMBOL RIEL.