The official currency of Cambodia is the Cambodian riel (KHR). It was put into circulation relatively recently - 60 years ago. Prior to that, the country paid with Indochinese piastres.
As soon as the riels were introduced, a well-known confusion and tyranny began in the country. Nobody needed money at all. In the 1970s, money circulation disappeared in the country altogether.
Cambodian riels depicting the country's 63rd king
In the 90s, American peacekeepers came to Cambodia and told how cool it was to have bucks. Since then, the riel has somehow not taken root in the country. To this day, the main currency of Cambodia is U.S. dollars. Riels are used as small change bills.
By the way, Cambodians are not averse to accepting Thai baht or for payment. Across the country, these currencies are very good course exchange. You will find metal coins (sen) only from collectors. The reason is clear - high inflation in the country. Even banknotes from 50 to 500 riels we have not seen.
For one US dollar, you will receive approximately 4,000 riels. For example, you wanted to buy, which cost $1.5. You hold out 1 dollar bill and 2,000 riels. In Cambodia, there is no such thing that it will be possible to pay more profitably with local currency.
Well Russian ruble to the riel is similar to the dollar-ruble ratio. One ruble equals approximately 64 riels, and this value varies depending on the cost of oil. Let me remind you that the ruble exchange rate against all Asian currencies is calculated through the dollar cross rate.
You don’t need to go to Cambodia with rubles - you won’t be able to exchange them. By the way, the export of the national currency is officially prohibited. And it makes no sense - the Cambodian riel will not be exchanged for you anywhere. But you can hide it for souvenirs.
Here is a small reminder for the tourist:
| Rieli | Rubles | Rieli | Rubles |
| 1 000 | 15.66 | 150 000 | 2 349.72 |
| 5 000 | 78.32 | 200 000 | 3 132.96 |
| 10 000 | 156.65 | 300 000 | 4 699.44 |
| 20 000 | 313.30 | 400 000 | 6 265.92 |
| 50 000 | 783.24 | 500 000 | 7 832.40 |
| 70 000 | 1 096.54 | 700 000 | 10 965.36 |
| 100 000 | 1 566.48 | 1 000 000 | 15 664.80 |
Most interesting and annoying. There are quite a few banks in Cambodia, all accepting Visa and MasterCard. Most famous banks: Canadia, SBC Banks, ANZ Royal, Acleda Bank, ABA Bank. Absolutely in all ATMs they take a commission for withdrawal, and extortionate - 4-5% of withdrawal amount, but not less than $5. In addition, Sberbank may take an additional fee ( 100 rub.).
The official currency of Cambodia is the Cambodian riel. There are no coins (in general, there are, but only in souvenir shops - it’s not very realistic to meet in the course), only banknotes. Denominations: 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 riel. Although, there is, as it were, its own currency, but it is somehow not there - the vast majority of hotels and restaurants have a price list in dollars and riels perform the function of a bargaining chip and are used when the price less than a dollar. So, there is no point in getting a pile of local currency upon arrival. But, it will be right to always have a small amount with you to pay with someone from the locals for small services (they may not have change).
Also, Bats will be happy to take from you, but the farther from the border with Thailand, the worse the rate (in the eastern regions it can reach up to 50 baht per dollar).
One interesting point related to the dollar. Almost all businesses use the rate of 1 $ = 4,000 R, regardless of what currency you use. But, if you want to pay a bill of $ 100-200 in riels (for example, for a hotel), then you will almost certainly be calculated at the current rate, and this may be 4050 and 4100 riels per dollar ...
If you have dollars in your hands, then there is no point in this, if you still need to change something for something - euros, dollars, baht or riels, then it is better to turn to change shops of which there are many everywhere.
Many hotels, as well as some restaurants and souvenir shops, accept plastic. But, you must be prepared to be charged 2-3% more. ATMs can be found in all more or less large cities.
Possible troubles |
1. When crossing the border on foot, from Thailand, you may be asked to exchange a certain amount of dollars (usually 100) for riels at a predatory rate - 1: 3,400. This can be motivated both by "supporting the economy of the Kingdom of Cambodia" and by some mythical law . Nothing needs to be changed.
2. Before the trip, check whether all the green bills you have are in good condition - shabby or torn, in cheap places, it will be difficult to pay, in more expensive places, they take it without problems. Also, you should remember this when you receive change.
The widespread use of dollars makes it almost unnecessary to exchange for local currency. It is possible to exchange dollars for riels in small amounts, for example, for purchases in government stores.
Before the trip, it is advisable to change rubles for dollars in small denominations
(1, 5, 10 dollars) for the convenience of paying for small purchases and services.
There are banknotes of 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000, 50000 and 100000 riels of various years of issue in circulation. At the same time, banknotes of old samples are used until they are worn out. The exception is banknotes of 1000 and 2000 riels of 1992, withdrawn from circulation.
Currency exchange in Cambodia is extremely rare, the US dollar is the most popular and popular currency. You can also use riels when buying in markets where prices are so low that the seller does not even have change from $ 5-10.
Quite often, sellers give out very dilapidated as change,
worn banknotes. Such banknotes in Cambodia will be accepted for payment everywhere,
but it is already difficult to change them in Russia. Try not to take such banknotes out of Cambodia.
There are exchange offices (bureau de change) at the airport in Phnom Penh, near bus stations, there are also exchange offices on the central streets of large cities.
Exchange offices working hours: Mon-Sat 07:30-11:00, 14:30-17:00, Sun - day off
Also in Cambodia there are a lot of street changers. It is highly discouraged to resort to their services, street money changers can not only exchange at a low rate, but simply enclose unused banknotes of 1000 and 2000 riels of 1992.
Credit cards in Cambodia are accepted mainly in major tourist areas - Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Kampot and Battambang. Bank cards are accepted mainly in large hotels, large shops and restaurants popular with tourists. In small cafes, shops, markets, transport in tourist areas of the country, cards are not accepted. Outside the tourist areas bank card you can almost forget, when traveling to such places it is better to take cash with you.
Mainly accepted Visa cards and MasterCard, cards of other payment systems are practically not accepted anywhere.
The commission for using cards is about 2-4%
Banking hours: Mon-Fri 08:80-15:00, Sun - day off
Some of the banks in Cambodia are open until 16:00. In large cities, there are bank branches that work on Saturdays - until 11:30.
Banks operating around the clock are mainly located in tourist areas.
The main banks in Cambodia are ACLEDA Bank, ANZ Royal, ABA Bank, CAB Bank, Canadia Bank.
Tipping in Cambodia is a new phenomenon, and despite the fact that it is not accepted, it is possible to leave a certain amount as a reward to the staff. Tourists from Europe and America pay about 10% of the check amount. You can leave money "for tea" in a larger amount, but you should not get too carried away.
Traveler's checks can only be exchanged in major cities, American Express traveler's checks are most popular at banks. The commission for cashing out can reach 5% of the face value.
Let the long-suffering mother Kampuchea today be considered one of poorest countries in Southeast Asia and throughout the world, local currency envy is stable. Moreover, not only against the background of our frivolous wooden, but even relatively self-confident Thai rice.
True, one can hardly envy someone whose affairs are consistently bad: for many years now, the national currency of Cambodia - the riel - has been 4,000 to 1 against the dollar.
The currency of Cambodia is the riel.
Both currencies are ubiquitous in the country when it comes to everyday consumer payments. And there are some nuances in their use.
Dollars in Cambodia are preferable to native currency Many tourists, winterers and cheerful persons without a fixed place of residence like us come to. Therefore, the question is whether baht is accepted here.
They do not accept, unlike. But in local banks or Wing exchangers, you can change baht to dollars at a completely adequate rate. So it is not absolutely necessary to buy dollars if you are traveling from Thailand to Cambodia. Moreover, in Siam, American currency is not sold at every corner: only in bank branches, with a passport.
That's all I wanted to say. There are also issues of withdrawing money from Russian and other cards in Cambodia, as well as cashless payments. But it is better to cover them briefly in separate posts.
With wishes to live in abundance and prosperity in any country of our material world, sincerely yours, nomadic accountant Marta.
Perhaps every more or less educated person knows about the existence of such an exotic state in the world, as or at least once in his life he heard about it. Most will be able to tell that this country is in Southeast Asia; very many also know that its capital is called Phnom Penh, which is a little funny for the Russian-speaking ear.
However, only a small part of people will be able to immediately and without the help of search engines answer not the most intricate question, one of the key ones in information about any country in the world - what monetary unit is the national currency in Cambodia and has free circulation in this state?
Unlike the money of some other Asian countries (Japan, China, recently - and), information about the Cambodian currency is completely out of the question for the general population. A funny fact is that even in the Russian Wikipedia articles about Cambodia and the economy of Cambodia, there is not a single mention of its name in the main texts (given only once in a side footnote). Let's take a closer look at this mysterious monetary unit.
The currency of the Kingdom of Cambodia is called the riel (riel) and has the international code KHR. Formally, 1 riel is equal to 100 sen, but in practice this is even less important than the fact that 1 ruble is equal to 100 kopecks - you simply will not find prices expressed in fractions of a riel anywhere due to its negligible purchasing power.
For the first time, this monetary unit was introduced in Cambodia in 1955 - before that, the main currency was the Indochinese piastres.
Those who came to power in 1975 removed the riel from circulation - in fact, all money was simply abolished in the country. Only on April 1, 1980, the riel was again officially put into circulation.
However, he was never able to win recognition among the general population of the country - today, along with the national currency of Cambodia, the US dollar is widely used in the state, which is accepted by most Cambodians with much greater willingness than the riel.
In fact, the role of the riel as a currency in our time has been reduced to the function of a bargaining chip for the dollar (about the exchange rate of this monetary unit a little lower).
Its national currency is not subject to export outside Cambodia - therefore, it makes no sense for travelers to stock up on it for future travel during a voyage.
The minimum amount of money that a Cambodian can carry in his pocket or purse is 50 riels - this is exactly the denomination of the smallest coin of the kingdom of Cambodia. In total, the state has 4 denominations of coins: 50, 100, 200 and 500 riels.
They were minted in 1994 and put into circulation in 1995, and since then no more coins have been issued - due to high inflation, there is no particular need for them (prices of hundreds of riels in Cambodia are not so easy to find). The material for the manufacture of coins was stainless steel, in coins of 500 riels there is also a copper-nickel-aluminum alloy.
There are a few more variants of riel banknotes - 11. The smallest of them correspond in face value to coins, and are practically not present in wide circulation. The remaining 7 are denominations of 1 thousand, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 thousand riels. The banknotes feature a colorful, full-colour design, usually featuring the former and current kings of Cambodia and the most significant Cambodian landmarks.
The exchange rate of the national currency of Cambodia in relation to US dollar fluctuates around the mark of 4 thousand riels for 1 dollar. The Cambodian government has made significant efforts to stop inflation and stabilize national currency, and the measures taken have had an effect: everywhere in money circulation countries 4000 riel is the equivalent of a dollar, and 1000 riel is a quarter of a dollar, which is very convenient for calculations.
The exchange rate of the Cambodian currency against the ruble as of February 20, 2018 was just over 71 riels per ruble. It is easy to guess that fluctuations in this rate are directly dependent on fluctuations in the ruble against the dollar - after all, in relation to the latter, the riel is generally stable. For direct monetary transactions, it can be generally considered that 1 ruble is the equivalent of 60-70 riels.
A funny paradox: when visiting Cambodia, a traveler may never need to purchase its national currency at all. The fact is that, as mentioned above, the US dollar, which is very popular here, has the widest distribution in Cambodia. It is in dollars that prices are indicated on most Cambodian price tags, and with great pleasure they will accept them everywhere.
The most widespread here are small dollar bills, from 1 to 10 "bucks". First of all, the traveler should stock up on them.
As for the riels, they often play the role of a bargaining chip - in this sense, their rate of 4000 for 1 dollar is quite convenient. Often local population can give riels for change with dollar bills. And here it is advisable for a foreign guest to remember the not very complicated rule “1000 riels is approximately equal to a quarter of a dollar”, so as not to be fooled - there is no doubt that there will be enough people among local sellers who want to lightly cheat a visiting tourist.
To buy exactly riels in relatively in large numbers(for example, for the same exchange) costs only in official exchangers. As a rule, these are bank branches in the largest cities. Here it is better to use an ATM if you need to withdraw money from the card - outside the administrative centers these are useful in the world modern finance devices in Cambodia can be searched for quite a long time.
We hope that the information obtained by reading this article was interesting for you - regardless of whether you are going to travel to Cambodia personally or just want to learn something new. Enjoy your travels and unforgettable positive impressions!
