Malawian kwacha

Malawian kwacha
Current coins
ISO 4217 code	MWK
Central bank	Reserve Bank of Malawi
Website	www.rbm.mw
User(s)	Malawi
Inflation	7.5%
Source	Reserve Bank of Malawi, Dec 2007.
Subunit
1/100	tambala
Symbol	MK
Coins
Freq. used	1, 5, 10 kwacha
Rarely used	1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 tambala
Banknotes	5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 kwacha

The kwacha (ISO 4217: MWK) is the currency of Malawi as of 1971, replacing the Malawian pound. It is divided into 100 tambala. The kwacha replaced other types of currency, namely British, South African and Rhodesian, that had previously circulated through the Malawian economy. The exchange rate of the kwacha undergoes fixed periodical adjustments, but since 1994 the exchange rate has floated. In 2005, administrative measures were put in place to control the exchange rate with other currencies. Banknotes are issued by the Reserve Bank of Malawi.

Etymology

The name kwacha derives from both the Nyanja and Bemba word for "dawn", while tambala translates as "rooster" in Nyanja. The tambala was so named because a rooster appeared on the first one tambala coin.

History

The kwacha replaced the Malawian pound in 1971 at a rate of two kwacha to one pound.

As of 4 July 2010, one British pound sterling was equal to 227.681 kwacha, one US dollar was equal to 149.8 kwacha and one South African rand was equal to 19.4475 kwacha.

As on 9 May 2011, one British pound sterling was equal to 257.7172 kwacha, one US dollar was equal to 152.2933 kwacha and one South African rand was equal to 23.7740 kwacha.

Coins

The first coins introduced in 1971 were in denominations of one, two, five, ten and twenty tambala. In 1986, fifty tambala and one kwacha coins were also introduced. In January 2007, five and ten kwacha coins, which actually bear a mint date of 2006, were also released into circulation.

The one and two tambala coins are composed of copper-plated steel. The five tambala coin is of nickel-plated steel. The fifty tambala and one kwacha coin are composed of brass-plated steel.

Banknotes

Old Malawian 1 kwacha note, carrying the date 1 Dec 1990, depicting former President-for-Life Hastings Banda on the front and workers in a Tobacco field on the reverse.

In 1971, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 50 tambala, 1, 2 and 10 kwacha. 5 kwacha notes were introduced in 1973 when the 2 kwacha note was discontinued. 20 kwacha notes were introduced in 1983. 50 tambala notes were last issued in 1986, with the last 1 kwacha notes printed in 1990. In 1993, 50 kwacha notes were introduced, followed by 100 kwacha in 1993, 200 kwacha in 1995 and 500 kwacha in 2001.

As of 2008, the following banknote denominations of banknotes are in circulation:

1997 Series [1]
Image	Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of first printing
				Obverse	Reverse
	K5	126 × 63 mm	Green	John Chilembwe	Villagers mashing grain	1 July 1997
	K10	132 × 66 mm	Brown		Children in "bush" school
	K20	138 × 69 mm	Purple		Workers harvesting tea leaves
	K50	144 × 72 mm	Blue		Independence Arc in Blantyre
	K100	150 × 75 mm	Red		Capital Hill in Lilongwe
	K200	156 × 78 mm	Blue		Reserve Bank building in Lilongwe
	K500		Multi-colour			1 December 2001
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Current MWK exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ZAR
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ZAR
From OzForex:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ZAR
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ZAR
From OANDA.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ZAR

See also

• Economy of Malawi

References

Preceded by: Malawian pound Ratio: 2 kwacha = 1 pound

Currency of Malawi 1971 –

Succeeded by: Current