XCD (Eastern Caribbean Dollar)

What Is the XCD (Eastern Caribbean Dollar)?

XCD is the symbol for the Eastern Caribbean dollar, which is the official currency shared by eight Caribbean island countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Eastern Caribbean dollar is subdivided into 100 pennies and has existed starting around 1965, when it superseded the British West Indies dollar. This makes it among the oldest currencies in the region still being used. As of December 2020, 1 XCD is equivalent to [USD](/usd-US dollar) $0.37.

Understanding the XCD (Eastern Caribbean Dollar)

The Eastern Caribbean dollar fills in as the official currency for the [Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States](/association eastern-caribbean-states-oecs) (OECS), a economic and monetary union laid out in 1981 to fit economic and trade policies among the 10 islands situated in the Eastern Caribbean. Just eight of the participating countries utilize the XCD, be that as it may. Martinique stays affiliated with France and accordingly utilizes the euro, while the British Virgin Islands utilize the U.S. dollar.

At its foundation, the Eastern Caribbean dollar replaced the British West Indies dollar at par. The Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority controlled the issuance of the Eastern Caribbean dollar and pegged its value at 4.8 XCD to 1 GBP.

In 1976, the currency authority then re-pegged the Eastern Caribbean dollar to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 2.7 XCD to 1 USD. The Eastern Caribbean Bank, laid out in 1983, in this manner assumed control over the issuance of the currency, leaving the U.S. dollar peg in place.

The Eastern Caribbean Bank's order covers regulation of liquidity all through its member states, as well as the promotion of economic and monetary stability through support of economic development and maintenance of a sound financial structure. The bank sees its dollar peg as a primary means to keep up with price stability all through the region and keep inflation in check.

Other Caribbean Currencies

Despite their small size and relative vicinity to each other, numerous other Caribbean nations utilize their own currencies. Barbados, which at one time used the Eastern Caribbean dollar, changed to its own dollar in 1973, pegged with the U.S. dollar at a rate of 2 Barbadian dollars (BBD) to 1 USD.

Somewhere else, the Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD), which is roughly as old as the Eastern Caribbean dollar, started with a U.S. dollar peg and ultimately moved to a floating rate in 1993. Moreover, Jamaican dollars (JMD), utilized on the island of Jamaica and issued by the Bank of Jamaica, float against different currencies. High inflation has prompted a de facto phaseout of lower-denomination currencies in the country.

Despite the multiplication of different currencies all through the Caribbean region, most vacationer destinations acknowledge payment in major global currencies, including the U.S. dollar (USD), British pound sterling (GBP), and the euro (EU).

Highlights

• It is utilized on the island states of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
• The currency is managed by the Eastern Caribbean Bank and has been pegged to the US Dollar starting around 1976.
• The Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD) is the official currency of the Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), supplanting the British West Indies dollar in 1965.