Samoan Tala (WST)

What Is the Samoan Tala (WST)?

The Samoan Tala (WST) is the national currency for the Independent State of Samoa, in no way related to American Samoa. The WST, addressed recorded as a hard copy utilizing the symbol WS$, SAT, ST or T, partitions into 100 sene. "Tala" is the Samoan equivalent to the English word "dollar" and "sene" to the English word pennies.

The Central Bank of Samoa is responsible for giving and controlling the WST, dealing with the exchange rate of the tala with foreign currencies and managing commercial banks that deal in the currency. The exchange rate will in general hold moderately consistent, with the rates falling between $0.38 to $0.46 starting around 2010. As of December 2020, a tala was equivalent to $0.39 in U.S. dollars (USD).

Grasping the WST

Prior to acquiring independence from New Zealand, Samoa utilized the banknotes of New Zealand. Five years subsequent to getting freedom, the Bank of Western Samoa issued the main tala banknotes in 1967. The tala pegged to the New Zealand dollar (NZD) at par until 1975, when it changed to float in light of supply and demand.

In 1985, the Central Bank of Samoa supplanted the Bank of Western Samoa as the country's central bank. In 1990, the bank issued new 50 and 100 tala bills and discontinued the one tala note. Today, the WST's banknotes feature huge areas and symbols from Samoan culture. Models incorporate the residence of Robert Louis Stevenson, a renowned Scottish creator who lived in Samoa; the headquarters of the Central Bank of Samoa; and the Samoan pigeon, which is the country's national bird.

The country courses one and two tala coins, as well as 10, 20, and 50 sene coins. In 2011, the Central Bank of Samoa reissued the coinage, minted by the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra, with new pictures portrayed. The coins are more modest than their ancestors and have new shapes to reduce the cost of production. The most common paper banknotes incorporate the two, five, 10, 20, 50, and 100 talas.

Real World Example of the WST

Like every single national currency, the value of the WST is at last upheld by the strength of its economy. On account of the WST, the economy of Samoa depends to a great extent on the export of food products like frozen fish, poultry, and organic product juices.

Different commodities, for example, petroleum oils, are likewise important exports for the island nation. The service sector as a general rule, and the travel industry in particular, is a major supporter of Samoan gross domestic product (GDP) and is responsible for supplying generally half of all positions in the economy. The country has encountered unobtrusive inflation on consumer prices in recent years, running between - 0.4% in 2014 and 0.98% in 2019. Unemployment, in the mean time, has held consistent at around 8.5% in recent years.

Features

• The economy of Samoa depends generally on services like the travel industry, as well as commodity exports like fish products, natural product juices, and petroleum.
• The Samoan Tala (WST) is the currency of Samoa.
• It was presented in 1967, supplanting the New Zealand dollar (NZD).