Guinea-Bissau peso

The peso was the currency of Guinea-Bissau from 1975 to 1997 and was divided into 100 centavos. It replaced the escudo at par. In 1997, in an effort to stop high inflation, Guinea-Bissau adopted the CFA franc, using a conversion rate of 65 pesos to the franc.

History

The peso replaced the escudo in 1975. It was originally equivalent to the Portuguese escudo.

Historical exchange rates

1975–1976: fixed exchange rate with the Portuguese escudo at parity.
1976–1977: fixed exchange rate with the Portuguese escudo
1977–1978: fixed exchange rate with the Portuguese escudo
26 May 1978 – 22 December 1983: fixed exchange rate with the special drawing rights at a rate of 44 pesos per SDR.
23 December 1983: Peso devalued to 88 per SDR.
4 May 1987: Peso devalued to 650 per USD.

Continued rapid inflation had eroded the value of the peso. By 1996, the exchange rate had reached 225 pesos per Portuguese escudo.
The adoption of the CFA Franc in 1997 created a steep inflation, which in turn contributed to the social unrest that led to the 1998 coup.

Coins

Coins were issued in denominations of 50 centavos, 1,, 5 and 20 pesos.

Banknotes

Banknotes in denominations of 50, 100, and 500 pesos dated 24-9-1975 were issued on 2 March 1976. 1000 peso notes were introduced in 1978, followed by 5000 pesos notes in 1984 and 10,000 pesos notes in 1990.