NAD (Namibian Dollar)

What Is the NAD (Namibian Dollar)?

The NAD (Namibian Dollar) is the national currency of Namibia. It was presented in September 1993, supplanting the South African rand (ZAR), which had been being used by the region beginning around 1990.

Albeit the rand is at this point not the official currency of Namibia, it is as yet considered legal tender in the country and can be effectively exchanged for NADs at a rate of one ZAR per NAD.

Understanding the NAD

The Namibian Dollar is administered by the country's central bank, the Bank of Namibia, where it has been in circulation starting around 1993 in both coin and paper formats. The value of the NAD is pegged toward the South African Rand at a rate of 1-to-1, since the rand was utilized beforehand as the country's de facto legal tender.

The country's bank notes circulate in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 NAD. These notes feature a representation of Hendrik Witbooi, a progressive who battled for national independence contrary to German rule in the late 1800s. In March of 2012, the 10 and 20-dollar notes were redesigned to depict Sam Nujoma, who was the main president of Namibia following its independence.

The NAD's most memorable coins were issued in December 1993, in denominations of 5, 10, and 50 pennies (each made of a steel and nickel composite) , as well as 1 and 5 dollars (each made of bronze and aluminum).

History and Performance of the Namibian Dollar

A developing movement to supplant the utilization of South Africa's currency in Namibia started in 1990. Since the NAD is associated with the ZAR and has a pegged exchange rate of coordinated, the ZAR stays a form of legal tender in Namibia.

Initially, in 1990, the proposed replacement currency for the country was the "kalahar," a name that mirrors the Kalahari Desert, which spreads across eastern Namibia. Officials drew up several designs for the kalahar and speculated on a scope of denominations, yet minimal developed from this. The main replacement currency for the ZAR that at any point came to fruition, and exists today, is the NAD.

In recent years, the NAD has consistently depreciated against the USD. Though in 2011 one USD was equivalent to around 8 NAD, that number rose to very nearly 17 of every 2016. As of December 2020, the current rate is around 15 NAD to one USD.

Namibia's economy has developed at a modest pace in the past decade, achieving an average annual growth of gross domestic product (GDP) of just more than 3%. Somewhere in the range of 2008 and 2019 the country's per-capita gross domestic product, estimated in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), increased from $8,66 per person to $9,673. Inflation, then again, has floated around 5% in recent years, averaging 4.9% each year somewhere in the range of 2014 and 2019.

Features

• Albeit the Namibian economy has accomplished modest growth in recent years, the NAD has depreciated against the U.S. dollar (USD).
• The Namibian Dollar (NAD) is the national currency of Namibia.
• It was presented in 1993, supplanting the country's utilization of the South African Rand (ZAR), despite the fact that ZAR is still widely accepted.