Includes how foreign exchange is managed and implications for U.S. business;
Last Published: 6/15/2016

The Central Bank of STP (BCSTP) supervises the national financial system and defines monetary and exchange rate policies in the country.  Among other responsibilities, the BCSTP sells hard currency and establishes indicative interest rates.  There is no difficulty in obtaining foreign exchange.  The dobra (denoted by the acronym "STD") is the country’s national currency.  As of May 2016, one U.S. dollar was equivalent to about STD 22,000.

In July 2009, STP and Portugal signed an economic cooperation agreement with the objective of fixing the STD to the Euro rather than a weighted basket of currencies.  As a result, the STD is pegged to the Euro at an exchange rate of 1 Euro equal to STD 24,500.00.  This anchorage offers credible parity, minimizes the monetary instability costs, and provides better credibility for the exchange rate and monetary policy.

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