During the late 1980s Peru's rate of inflation
was running at thousands of percent, but
President Fujimori's economic shock tactics of
the early 1990s brought it fairly tightly under
control, so that by 1999 it was below the four
percent mark. Devaluation is a regular
occurrence, however, and in 1986 the whole
currency was changed from the sol (Spanish for
sun) to the inti (Quechua for sun) and in the
process three zeros were removed - one inti was
worth 1000 sols. The inti has since been
replaced by the nuevo sol, still called a simple
sol on the streets, and whose symbol is S/.
Despite being closely tied to the US dollar, the
value of the nuevo sol still varies from day to
day, so we have quoted prices throughout this
guide in US dollars, against which costs have so
far remained relatively stable. At the time of
writing, the exchange rate for the nuevo sol was
roughly S/3.5=$1, S/2.3=CDN$1 S/5.8=£1, S/2.3=A$1
and S/1.7=NZ$1
Costs
Peru is certainly a much cheaper place to visit
than Europe or the US, but how much so will
depend on where you are and when. As a general
rule low-budget travellers should - with care -
be able to get by on around $10-20 per person
per day. If you intend...
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Traveller's cheques, cash and credit cards
For safety's sake the bulk of your money should
be carried as traveller's cheques - preferably
of two different types, as rumoured forgeries
make individual brands difficult to exchange,
from time to time. American Express is probably
the best...
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Banks, casas de cambio and the black market
Bank opening hours vary enormously from region
to region and from bank to bank, but as a
general rule most open weekdays from 9am until
5pm and in Lima, in particular, many of them
close for the afternoon at about 1pm from
January to March; the...
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Emergency cash
If you're in a large city in Peru, probably the
quickest method of getting emergency cash is to
use your credit card to withdraw money from the
ATMs of major banks, or get a cash advance on
your credit card. Otherwise, you can get a ...
read more >> |
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