The unit of currency is the Leone, symbol Le. Leone coins have the value Le50, Le100 and Le500. Bank notes are Le1000, Le2000,Le5000 and Le10000. On May 14th 2010, new bank notes were introduced. The new notes are slightly different in size to the originals and are supposedly more durable. The old Le500 note has not been replaced. The designs are very similar to the old notes. The new notes far outnumber the old type as of the end of May 2010, so it can be expected that people will not want to accept the old notes for much longer. The old type can be exchanged at banks for one year after the launch date of the new notes.
Exchanging money is very easy, either through the black market or banks. The small bank at the airport offers reasonable rates. GB£, Euro or US$ are most popular, although others are possible.
Exchange rates (May 2010):
1GB£=Le5900
1US$=Le3900
1EU€=Le4700
Credit cards are accepted in a few supermarkets, restaurants and hotels (Visa only). The airport duty free shop does take major cards. Some of the other hotels are planning to take cards. It is possible to get money from some banks with a credit card, but the process can be long and rather costly. There are ATMs in Freetown most are not internationally linked. Pro Credit Bank has ATMs that accept international Visa cards.
Money and daily life
As much as Sierra Leone is a poor country it will surprise you with the high cost of everything. The lack of a good import system and the high importation tax that the new government has in place and to add 15% service and goods tax that the new government increases this year, every little thing you will find in a supermarket will be around double the cost than what you will find in a U.S. supermarket.
Foreigners often pay up to ten times the price quoted to locals when it comes to goods you find on the street so make sure to bargain and lower the price as much as you can.
If you are prepared to stay in a cheap guesthouses, and that means not a safe location with bed bugs in the bed ( $35-$50 ) and travel only by local bus ( poda poda ) $0.50 and eat only at street corners ( not recommended to your health ) , you can get by in Freetown on a minimum of around LE 220,000 (about $55) per day. If you want to eat a decent restaurant meal every now and then and stay in mid-range accommodation, a more realistic budget is around LE 440,000 (about $110). If you want to eat and sleep good , you can easily chew through LE 880,000 (about $220)per day.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Sierra Leone
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Sierra Leone - updated Apr 2024
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Sierra Leone 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.
