Algeria - Money

The value of the Algerian dinar held steady until September 1994, due to the central bank's policy of setting it at a fixed rate against other widely used currencies. This policy resulted in a wide gap between the official rate and informal exchange rates on the black market , where the dinar sold as high as 6 times the official rate at the end of 1989. The dinar has since been stable, but only after the government introduced full convertibility, allowing local importers to bid for hard currency in the local banking system. The country's strong foreign exchange reserves have allowed the banking system to meet the currency demands of the local market. Since 1998, the dinar has averaged AD66.57 to the U.S. dollar, but had slightly devaluated at the end of 2000, averaging 79.14 to the U.S. dollar.