Benin is part of the 8-member UEMOA, and the currency is the CFA franc. The Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO) issues currency notes and regulates credit expansion. The CFA franc was pegged at a fixed exchange rate to the French franc at 50:1 from 1948 but was overvalued in the late 1980s and subsequently devalued to CFA Fr 100 to 1 French franc in 1994. Since France joined European Monetary Union, the CFA franc is tied to the euro at CFA Fr655.959:Euro 1.
Benin is burdened with a huge foreign debt of more than US$1.6 billion, although the country's major creditors are working with the Paris Club (an informal organization made of various creditor companies and countries), the IMF, and the World Bank to help it manage its obligations.
| Exchange rates: Benin | |
| Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFA Fr) per US$1 | |
| Jan 2001 | 699.21 |
| 2000 | 711.98 |
| 1999 | 615.70 |
| 1998 | 589.95 |
| 1997 | 583.67 |
| 1996 | 511.55 |
| Note: From January 1, 1999, the CFA Fr is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA Fr per euro. | |
| SOURCE : CIA World Factbook 2001 [ONLINE]. | |
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