ISO 4217 | |
---|---|
Code | ETB (numeric: 230) |
Subunit | 0.01 |
Unit | |
Symbol | Br (Latin Script) ብር (Ethiopic Script) |
Denominations | |
Subunit | |
1⁄100 | santim |
Banknotes | 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200 birr |
Coins | 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 santim; 1 birr |
Demographics | |
User(s) | Ethiopia |
Issuance | |
Central bank | National Bank of Ethiopia |
Website | www |
Valuation | |
Inflation | 15%[1] October 2017 |
Source | The World Factbook, 2008 est. |
The birr (Amharic: ብር) is the primary unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 santims.
In 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie formally requested that the international community use the name Ethiopia (as it had already been known internally for at least 1,600 years[2]) instead of the exonym Abyssinia, and the issuing Bank of Abyssinia also became the Bank of Ethiopia. Thus, the pre-1931 currency may be referred to as the Abyssinian birr and the post-1931 currency the Ethiopian birr, although neither the country nor the currency changed beyond the name.
186 billion birr ($14.7 billion or €9.97 billion) were in circulation in 2008.