Currency in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Rupee is the currency in Sri Lanka. Its ISO code is LKR and its official symbol is Rs.

Since then, the Sri Lankan coat of arms has been on the front of the Sri Lankan rupee. On the reverse is the value of the coin and is indicated in the languages ​​Sinhala, Tamil and English.

On the lower side is the year of issue and on the upper side is the imprint “Sri Lanka”. The banknotes also changed again and again in their values ​​over the years.

Currently, the banknote with the lowest value is 10 rupees and the banknote with the highest value is 5000 rupees.

History of the currency of Sri Lanka

On September 26, 1836, Sri Lanka switched to the Indian currency area and thus had the Indian rupee as the official currency. At the same time, British banknotes, which had previously been the official currency, were still accepted as a means of payment. The fixed exchange rate at that time was 1 pound = 10 rupees.

From 1844, the Bank of Ceylon was the first private bank to issue banknotes in Sri Lanka.

The Indian rupee was divided into 16 Anna, 64 Paisa, and 192 Pai. This complicated system has been simplified by decimalization by dividing 1 rupee into 100 cents.

From June 18, 1869, the Indian rupee formally became the official currency of Sri Lanka.

From January 1, 1872, this became the sole legal tender and from there on completely replaced the British currency. In the same year, coins with the values ​​¼, ½, 1 and 5 cents were brought into circulation in the form of a copper coin. A short time later, silver coins with the values ​​10, 25 and 50 cents were also used.

In 1895 the first banknotes were introduced in Sir Lanka. In 1904, however, the production of the ¼ cent coin was discontinued.

In 1940 the ½ cent coin was also discontinued. In 1963 a new series of coins, on which no monarch was imprinted for the first time, was introduced.

Since December 14, 2005, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has been issuing a new series of coins with the values ​​of 25 and 50 cents as well as 1, 2 and 5 rupees. All smaller values ​​have now disappeared from payment transactions.

Exchange into local currency

For travelers, it is advantageous to exchange their money in Sri Lanka, as the exchange rates on site are usually much better.

It is recommended to withdraw money in the local currency with a credit card at an ATM, a larger bank, in order to have the lowest possible fees. However, it should be checked in advance which or whether fees are charged on your own credit card.