Mauritanian ouguiya
ISO 4217
CodeMRU (numeric: 929)
before 2017: MRO[1]
Subunit0.01
Unit
Pluralouguiya
SymbolUM‎
Denominations
Subunit
 1⁄5khoums
Banknotes20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 ouguiya[2]
Coins
 Freq. used1, 2, 5, 10, 20 ouguiya[3]
 Rarely used1 khoums
Demographics
User(s) Mauritania
 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Issuance
Central bankBanque Centrale de Mauritanie
 Websitewww.bcm.mr
PrinterCanadian Bank Note Company[4]
 Websitecbnco.com
Valuation
Inflation2.2%
 SourceThe World Factbook, 2019 est.

The ouguiya (Arabic: أوقية موريتانية (IPA: [uɡija]); sign: UM; code: MRU), at one time spelled "ougiya",[5] is the currency of Mauritania. Each ouguiya constitutes five khoums (meaning "one fifth"). As such it is one of two circulating currencies, along with the Malagasy ariary, whose division units are not based on a power of ten.

The current ouguiya was introduced in 2018, replacing the old ouguiya at a rate of 1 new ouguiya = 10 old ouguiya, which in turn replaced the CFA franc at a rate of 1 old ouguiya = 5 francs. The name ouguiya (أوقية) is the Hassaniya Arabic pronunciation of uqiyyah أُوقِية), meaning "ounce".

First Ouguiya (MRO)

Coins

In 1973, coins of 1⁄5 (1 khoums), 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya were introduced into circulation. This was the only year that the khoums was minted, as the ouguiya was worth five CFA Francs a khoums was the equivalent of the franc (which had no subdivision). The most recent issues were in 2003 (1 ouguiya) and 2004 (other denominations). Coins are minted at the Kremnica mint in Slovakia. The coinage slightly changed in 2009, with a reduced 1 ouguiya in plated composition and a bi-metallic 20 ouguiya issued. A bi-metallic 50 ouguiya was issued December 2010.

Banknotes

In 1973, notes were issued by the Central Bank of Mauritania (Banque Centrale de Mauritanie) in denominations of 100, 200 and 1,000 ouguiya. In 1974, a second series of notes was issued in the same denominations, with 500-ouguiya notes added in 1979. Banknotes have been printed by Giesecke & Devrient in Munich, starting with the second issue.

Obverse of 100 ouguiya note issued in 2011 with Eastern Arabic numerals. The reverse features text in French and Western Arabic numerals.

New banknotes and new coins were introduced in 2004. These notes have completely new fronts and the vignettes on the backs have been redesigned to accommodate the reduction in size. The 2,000-ouguiya denomination is entirely new.

All but the 100 and 200 ouguiya notes have the denomination expressed in Arabic numerals in a holographic patch at right front. The serial numbers for all denominations now appear horizontally at upper left and lower center, and vertically at far right, all formatted with a 2-character prefix, 7-digit serial number, and 1-character suffix.[6]

An entirely new 5,000-ouguiya denomination dated 28 November 2009 was introduced on 8 August 2010, followed by a redesigned 2,000-ouguiya note dated 28 November 2011 issued on 1 February 2012.[6]

Second ouguiya (MRU)

On 5 December 2017, the Central Bank of Mauritania announced a redenomination of its currency at a rate of 1:10. As part of the redenomination, a new series of coins were issued in denominations of 1 khoums (1⁄5 ouguiya), 1, 5, 10 and 20 ouguiya, with the latter being struck as a tri-metallic coin and a new series of banknotes in denominations of 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 ouguiya. The new ouguiya banknotes issued for the redenomination are printed entirely in polymer. As a consequence of this change, the ISO Currency Codes for the ouguiya were amended to MRU / 929 and the existing codes of MRO / 478 were retired as per ISO 4217 Amendment Number 165 dated 14 December 2017.[7] A 2 ouguiya coin was issued into circulation in 2018, serving as an intermediate denomination for the 1 and 5 ouguiya coins already in circulation. On 28 November 2021, the Central Bank of Mauritania issued a 20 ouguiya banknote, co-circulating with the coin of the same denomination in circulation. On 15 June 2023, the Central Bank of Mauritania issued a new 50 ouguiya banknote in celebration of 50 years of the circulation of the ouguiya in Mauritania, co-circulating with the previous banknote of the same denomination.[8]

Banknotes of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017 issues)
ImageValueMain colorDescriptionDate of issue
ObverseReverseObverseReverse
20 ouguiya Red Grand Mosque of Gataga in Kaedi Guelb er Richât 28 November 2020
50 ouguiya Violet Ibn Abbas mosque, Nouakchott Teapot; musical instruments 28 November 2017
100 ouguiya Green Tower Cattle 28 November 2017
200 ouguiya Yellow Tower Camels 28 November 2017
500 ouguiya Blue Tower Trawler; fish 28 November 2017
1,000 ouguiya Brown Tower Locomotive of an ore train 28 November 2017
Coins of the Mauritanian ouguiya (2017-2018 issue)
ImageValueTechnical parametersDescriptionDate of first minting
DiameterThicknessMassCompositionEdgeObverseReverse
1⁄5 ouguiya16.0 mm (0.63 in)2.0 mm (0.079 in)2.10 g (0.074 oz)Copper-plated steel Plain/SmoothNational seal of Mauritania; denominationFish; denomination2017
1 ouguiya19.9 mm (0.78 in)2.0 mm (0.079 in)4.00 g (0.141 oz)Nickel-plated steel Reeded/grainedNational seal of Mauritania; denominationTeapot; denomination2017
2 ouguiya24.0 mm (0.94 in)5.65 g (0.199 oz)Stainless steel Reeded/grainedNational seal of Mauritania; denominationNational instruments; denomination2018
5 ouguiya22.5 mm (0.89 in)2.0 mm (0.079 in)4.71 g (0.166 oz)Nickel-plated steel Plain/smoothNational seal of Mauritania; denominationInstruments; denomination2017
10 ouguiya24.0 mm (0.94 in)1.8 mm (0.071 in)5.38 g (0.190 oz)Bi-metallic coin (Nickel-plated steel center with a Brass-plated steel ring) Segmented (alternating between 10 plain and reeded sections)National seal of Mauritania; denominationCow; denomination2017
20 ouguiya26.0 mm (1.02 in)2.0 mm (0.079 in)7.63 g (0.269 oz)Tri-metallic coin (Bronze-plated steel center plug with a Nickel-plated steel inner ring and a Brass-plated steel outer ring) Plain/smoothNational seal of Mauritania; denominationCamels; denomination2017
Current MRU exchange rates
From Google Finance: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From XE.com: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OANDA: AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ISO 4217 Amendment Number 165". .currency-iso.org. 14 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Billets Archived 2008-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, Banque Centrale de Mauritanie
  3. ↑ "Pièces". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  4. ↑ "Introduction de billets de banque en polymère" [Introduction of polymer banknotes] (PDF) (in French and Arabic). Banque Centrale de Mauritanie. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2023. Ces billets seront imprimés à la Canadian Bank Note Company, à Ottawa (Canada)./ستتم طباعتها في شركة البنكنوت الكندية في أوتاوا، كندا. [These notes will be printed at the Canadian Bank Note Company, in Ottawa, Canada.]
  5. ↑ "Home : Oxford English Dictionary".
  6. 1 2 Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Mauritania". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ↑ "Data Standards".
  8. ↑ "البنك المركزي يعلن إصدار ورقة جديدة من فئة 50 أوقية" [The Central Bank announces the issuance of a new 50 ouguiya banknote]. AlAkhbar.info (in Arabic). 18 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
First ouguiya
Preceded by:
West African CFA franc
Ratio: 1 ouguiya = 5 francs		 Currency of Mauritania
1973 – 2017		 Succeeded by:
Second ouguiya
Ratio: 1 second ouguiya = 10 first ouguiya
Second ouguiya
Preceded by:
First ouguiya
Ratio: 1 second ouguiya = 10 first ouguiya		 Currency of Mauritania
2018 –		 Succeeded by:
Current
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