Vanuatu - Money

In the period since 1982, the vatu has declined in value against the American dollar by about 40 percent. However, this is not as great a relative decline as experienced in many other Pacific countries. This may be because, despite a negative balance of trade, Vanuatu has a reasonably consistent source of foreign revenue coming from tourism and its tax haven activities. Also, the vatu is pegged against a group of currencies, and although these currencies are secret, it is believed that the most important are the Australian and U.S. dollars, with smaller weight given to the Japanese yen and French franc, according to the Asian Development Bank.

The Reserve Bank of Vanuatu has the usual functions of a central bank, including regulating the money supply, providing economic advice to the government, and general economic monitoring.