Guatemalan Quetzal (GTQ)

What is the Guatemalan Quetzal (GTQ)?

GTQ is the foreign exchange shortening for the Guatemalan quetzal. It is the official currency of Guatemala, and is partitioned into 100 centavos.

As of December 2020, 1 GTQ is worth US $0.13.

Grasping the Guatemalan Quetzal

The quetzal previously showed up in 1924, named after the quetzal bird to commemorate the antiquated Mayans' utilization of the bird's quills as currency. Modern banknotes noticeably feature photos of these long-followed birds. In 1925, the currency officially supplanted the Guatemalan peso, which had in its turn been issued in 1859 to supplant the Central American real.

The Central Bank of Guatemala, laid out in 1926, issued the currency at a rate of 1 quetzal to 60 pesos at that point. The government initially linked the currency to the gold standard and afterward pegged it to the U.S. dollar at par. Following a political revolution in Guatemala in 1944, the country moved from a tyranny to more just government institutions. The government laid out the new Bank of Guatemala in 1945, and that entity assumed control over the issuance of currency from the Central Bank of Guatemala in 1946. The recently made bank issued another series of banknotes and assumed control over the printing of coins.

Beginning around 1987, the central bank has permitted the quetzal's exchange rate to float freely against foreign currencies. By the by, after an initial trip following the removal of its peg, the quetzal's value has remained generally stable in a scope of roughly 7 to 8 quetzal for every U.S. dollar starting around 2000.

Outline of Guatemala's Economy

Guatemala and Belize form the northern edge of the Central American isthmus. Mexico borders Guatemala toward the west and north, with Belize toward the east. Honduras and El Salvador border Guatemala toward the southeast, with Honduras along the Caribbean Sea coast and El Salvador toward the south, along the Pacific.

Regardless of bragging one the biggest economies in Central America, Guatemala experiences high rates of wealth inequality, with the greater part the country living below the national poverty line as per U.S. Central Intelligence Agency statistics. Beginning around 2018, the U.S. State Department has issued a tourism warning encouraging that potential vacationers reevaluate their itinerary items due to high levels of brutal crime and posse activity present in the country.

The country's service sector drives the majority of its economy. The agricultural sector likewise assumes a major part in employment as well as accounting for a substantial percentage of the country's exports. Cash crops incorporate coffee, sugar, bananas, and other new produce. A substantial amount of the money flowing into the country comes from foreign sources, particularly ostracizes living in the United States.

The country experienced GDP growth of 3.6% and an inflation rate of 3.7% in 2019, the most recent year for which data is accessible.

Highlights

• The Guatemalan quetzal (GTQ) is the official currency of Guatremala, first showing up in 1924.
• Guatemala is the biggest economy in Central America, and tenth-biggest in Latin America.
• The quetzal is a free floating currency, however was once pegged to the U.S. dollar and before that stuck to the gold standard.