The unit of money is the ariary. 1 € is about 2900 ariary and 1 US$ is about 2000 ariary as of 2010. The value of the ariary has been rather stable for a few years. The currency system was overhauled in 2006. Prior to 2006 the unit of currency was the Malagasy Franc (Franc Malgache) and was worth 1/5 of an ariary, for example, 10,000 Francs = 2000 Ariary. However, old banknotes in Francs are still legal tender. Whenever negotiating a price, always confirm the amount in ariary. Unscrupulous merchants have been known to state the amount due without specifying the currency so that buyers are duped into paying 5 times the amount due because of Franc/Ariary confusion.
You can withdraw money from ATM's in the cities, using a Visa or Visa Electron card. Mastercard can be used with ATM's of the BNI bank.
Vanilla and other spices are cheap in Madagascar compared to Europe or elsewhere, and the quality (especially of vanilla) is very good. (Vanilla is about 2 € for 10 pods in Mada, compared to 3 € for 2 pods in France.)
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Madagascar
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Madagascar - updated Apr 2024
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Madagascar Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
