Sri Lanka – like India, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, Maldives and Afghanistan – uses Rupee as its monetary unit. Rupee, meaning “a coin of silver” or “something provided with an image, a coin,” was introduced by Emperor Sher Shah Suri of India in the year 1540-1545.
Initially, it was created with silver. Later on, they also introduced rupee in copper and gold and these three elements became the standard components of a rupee. Paper bills in 7 faces of different colors were also launched to complete and standardize the currency.
The Sri Lankan Rupee is divided into 100 cents. The feature of this currency is one of a kind because it is vertically printed on the back. This is being issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Paper bills in 7 faces of different colors were also launched to complete and standardize the currency.
They launched bills starting from 10 rupees which has Sinhalese Chinze on the front and flowers on the backside; 20 rupees which has bird mask on the obverse and fishermen; 50 rupees which features a man wearing a hat of ceremony; 100 rupees which has a picture of a large decorated earthenware and two parrots with women collecting sheets of tea; 500 rupees which features a kingfisher bird and is highlighted with flowers; 1000 rupees which has an image of an elephant with its mahout; and 2000 rupees which features the fortress of Sigiriya on an ancient cliff.
LKR is the symbol used to identify this currency. Since India and Pakistan also use Rupee, the import of their money is prohibited in this country. Nonetheless, all of the other countries are allowed.
Sri Lanka is known for tourism, tea export, textile, apparel and mostly agricultural products. They focus on beaches in the southern and eastern part of the country. They export high quality tea which made them the biggest tea exporter. They produce high quality garments which are exported to the US and Europe. They give attention to agricultural products for the temperature in this country is good which results in quality production.
However the country has experienced economic crisis because of the abusive use of their resources and because of the effect of the countries surrounding it. In the year 2001, Sri Lanka has experienced bankruptcy which made the government focus on mass production of goods for consumption.
As of February 2011, the Sri Lankan Rupee is equivalent to 0.009029 USD, still low but trying to recover from the past years of deficiency.
Sri Lanka, like any other country, continuously fights poverty with the help of the people living in the country. Through handwork and patience, their main goal to conquer the World Market will be surely achieved.
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