The two most economically buoyant economies in North America are the United States of America (USA) and Canada. This doesn’t mean that other countries on that continent are not blessed with resources.
The Bahamas is not also doing badly. In fact, it is the richest country in the West Indies and is ranked 14th in North America for nominal Gross Domestic Product.
But most of the North American countries, especially the Caribbeans are famous for tourism and a hidden place for wealthy people around where some time away from business stress.
In this article, we take a look at the weakest currencies in North America against the Euro (EUR).
If you’ve read our previous rating of currencies against the other, we’ve mostly used the USD against others. The US dollar is one of the strongest currencies in North America.
In this article, the USD is involved and we’re picking the EUR because it is the world’s second most important currency in the global business after the US dollar.
Note: Six out of the 23 countries in North America use the Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD). They include Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia.
In the table below, we’re going to use the EUR as the base and the local currencies as the quote to judge the legal tenders in North America that have low value against the Euro
Costa Rican Colon (CRC)
- EUR to CRC = 715.92 CRC
- USD to CRC = 656.21 CRC
For the World Bank, Costa Rica, a Central American country, has made some significant development despite the growing poverty rate, insufficient access to health care and other challenges.
It is what CATO Institute describes as growth without poverty reduction. And some of the challenges continue to have an impact on the value of Costa Rican currency.
The administration of President Rodrigo Carazo between 1978 to 1982 can not be forgotten. That was when the government had to print more money to deal with government deteriorating finances.
High inflation set in, and the value of Costa Rican Colon nosedived after the government devalued its currency. To date, the Costa Rican currency remains the worst currency on the North American continent.
Jamaican Dollar (JMD)
- EUR to JMD = 168.19JMD
- US Dollar to JMD = 154.07JMD
Jamaica is a Caribbean island nation popular for reggae and tourism. A country faced with a bloated public sector and high prevalence of crime and corruption will definitely affect the value of its currency, especially when most of the essential needs are imported.
And of course, since the Jamaican dollar became a legal tender in 1969, the economy of the mountainous nation has not been palatable.
Like other countries that have value issue with their legal tender, inflation has not helped either.
Just one EUR will fetch a tourist 168.19JMD while 5,000 USD is worth 770,328.50JMD, translating to 154.07 JMD to one USD.
Haitian Gourde (HTG)
The gourde is the official legal tender of Haiti, a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east.
The country remains the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region and one of the poorest countries in the world.
Though it freed itself from French colonial rule in 1804, the economy of Haiti remained unstable and remained one of the non-industrialised countries, all of these have an effect on the Haitian currency.
At the time of publication, 117.35 HTG was 1 Euro while 1 USD was 107.49 HTG, making the Haitian Gourde the third weakest currency in North America.
Dominican Peso (DOP)
- EUR to DOP = 60.06DOP
- USD to DOP = 55.05 DOP
Dominican republic is a neighbour to Haiti, but its economy is still better than Haiti. But then, that isn’t enough to take the Caribbean nation off the list of countries in North America with weak currency when compared with the EUR and the US Dollar.
Dominican currency isn’t as bad as CRC, one EUR was worth 60.06 DOP while 1 USD was 55.05 DOP.
Despite that, the country remains a go-to for fun lovers because of it beautiful beaches and resorts.
The Dominican peso may be one of the weakest in North America, but it has more value than the Nigerian Currency (naira). 50,000 DOP is worth 377, 520.43 Naira. Nigerian currency is also on the list of weakest currencies in Africa despite its giant economy that has not translated to human development.
Nicaraguan Cordoba (NIO)
- EUR to NIO = 38.95 NIO
- USD to NIO = 35.78 NIO
The largest country in Central America is Nicaragua, but it isn’t about the largest. In international trade, it is about the value of your currency against major competitors in the forex market.
The Cordoba which is the country’s official currency, unfortunately, found itself on the list of weak currencies in North America.
If used as a trading pair against the euro, 1 EUR was 0.026 NIO and against the USD dollar, it was 0.028 NIO.
Recap:
The fact that CRC, JMD, HTG, DOP and NIO make the list of North American currencies with low value against the EUR and USD doesn’t mean they are the worst when compared with other currencies around the world.
It should be noted that some of the currencies in the North American countries do better than some currencies in Africa.
For instance, 1 Cordoba is worth 332.17 SLL (Sierra Leonean leone), the official currency in Sierra Leon just like 100,000 Dominican peso is worth 755,040.86 naira. Having said that, it’s important to note that the Tunisian Dinar, and Libyan Dinar among others are the top strongest currencies in Africa.
Sources:
- Featured Image by Manor FX
- Juan Carlos Hidalgo (January 23, 2014). “Growth without Poverty Reduction: The Case of Costa Rica”. Cato Institute. Retrieved April 7, 2022
