Zaïre (currency)

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Zaïre (abbreviation: Z ) was the currency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1967 to 1993 (between 1971 and 1997 the country was called Zaïre). From 1993 to 1997 the national currency was called New Zaïre (French: Nouveau Zaïre ).

Zaire 1967-1993

10 Makuta coin (1975) with a portrait of Mobutu

The Zaïre was introduced in 1967 by President Mobutu Sese Seko , even before the country was renamed Zaïre. The Zaïre replaced the Congo Franc in the ratio of 1000 Francs = 1 Zaïre. A Zaïre was divided into 100 Makuta (singular: Likuta ; abbreviation: K ), a Likuta in turn into 100 Sengi . The currency symbol was “Z” or “Ƶ”, the ISO 4217 code ZRZ.

New Zaïre 1993–1997

In 1993 the New Zaïre was introduced; it replaced the old one in a ratio of 1: 3,000,000. It was divided into 100 new Makuta and only circulated in the form of banknotes. The currency symbol was "NZ" and the ISO 4217 code was ZRN.

In 1997, at the same time as the old country name was reintroduced, the currency name franc was reintroduced; the exchange was made at the rate of 100,000 New Zaire = 1 Congo Franc .