The Malagasy Ariary is the official currency of Madagascar. One Malagasy Ariary is worth five Iraimbilanja. This makes it one of only two non-decimal currencies in the world (the other being the Mauritanian Ouguiya.) Coins come in 1 and 2 Iraimbilanja as well as 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Ariary. Banknotes are issued in 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10000 Malagasy Ariary.
'Ariary' means 'silver dollar' and 'Iraimbilanja' means 'one iron weight.'
The Malagasy Ariary was first circulated in 1961 when one Ariary was worth five Malagasy Francs. Until 2005, coins and banknotes were of dual currency showing values in both Francs and Ariary. The Malagasy Ariary became more prominent in use from 1978 when some coins were only issued in Ariary values. Later, in 2003, new banknotes showed the Franc denomination in a much smaller print compared to the Ariary. The Malagasy Ariary became the official currency on 1st January 2005 and the Franc ceased to be circulated.
- iraimbilanja (5)
- Banque Centrale de Madagascar