Cuban Peso

Since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Cuban peso has been the national currency of Cuba. It is subdivided into 100 centavos and comes in both paper and coin form. The Cuban peso is not currently traded on international markets and its value is pegged to the U.S. dollar. In the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba experienced a severe economic downturn. In response, the Cuban government introduced a new currency, the Cuban peso convertible (CUC). The CUC was pegged to the U.S. dollar and was meant to replace the Cuban peso as the country’s primary currency. However, the Cuban peso remained in circulation and both currencies are used interchangeably on the island. The Cuban government has gradually been phasing out the CUC in favor of the Cuban peso, and it is currently working on a plan to completely replace the CUC with the Cuban peso by 2019. The Cuban peso is not traded on international markets and its value is pegged to the U.S. dollar. As a result, the value of the Cuban peso fluctuates along with the value of the U.S. dollar. The Cuban peso is currently worth about $0.04.