Currency in Mongolia
The Tugrik or Tögrög is the Mongolian currency. Its ISO code is MNT, the symbol is ₮ and the official abbreviation is also ₮.
Originally the Tugrik was divided into 100 Möngö. However, since the currency unit is too small, it is no longer used. The Tugrik is available in banknotes in the form of notes with the values 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000.
However, grades with a value lower than 10 are rarely used because this value is very low. Coins are available with the values 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. However, these are rarely used in everyday life. Mainly only banknotes are used.
History of the currency of Mongolia
In 1925 the tugrik was first introduced by the Bank of Mongolia. Previously, the first Russian-Mongolian bank was opened on June 2, 1924 in Altanbulag.
The currency was linked to the currency of the Chinese People’s Republic, which was then known as the Yanchaan or also as the silver dollar.
With the establishment of the Mongolian People’s Republic on November 26, 1924, which was considered a satellite state of the Soviet Union, the Tugrik was introduced a little later. This was linked to the Soviet Union until 1990. Accordingly, the exchange rate and the value of the tugrik was exactly the same as that of the Russian ruble.
Since Mongolia’s dependence on the Soviet Union ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, a free market economy was created.
In 1991 the first banking law followed, which created a 2-tier banking system. This consisted of private banks as well as the state bank of Mongolia.
After the economic revolution was underway, the Trugrik suffered a massive drop in value by the end of the 90’s, which, however, stabilized again. Until 2005 there was only a slight decline in value. However, the currency was marked by another massive drop in value in summer 2016.
Exchange into local currency
People traveling to Mongolia may wonder whether it is better to exchange the euro for the Tugrik in Germany or Mongolia or to withdraw money in Mongolia by credit card.
However, the exchange rate is most attractive in Mongolia. It is therefore worth taking a certain amount in Euro cash with you to exchange it in Mongolia and not incurring additional costs.
Depending on the issuer of the credit card, withdrawing money from an ATM in Mongolia is also cheap.
