Glossary: sol (S/)
DEFINITION:
Peru’s unit of currency, technically the nuevo sol (new sol), consisting of 100 céntimos, established officially as Peru’s monetary unit on January 4, 1991. In late 1992, the exchange rate for the new sol was S/1.63=US$1. In the late 1800s, a silver sol was the country’s currency until its metallic content exceeded its monetary value and it was exported instead of circulating. Before the 1860s, Bolivian coins circulated in Peru. The sol was established by law in 1931 as an unminted gold coin; bank notes were issued in terms of gold soles. It replaced the Peruvian gold pound created in 1900. The Peruvian pound was equivalent in value to the British pound, and both circulated as legal tender. Beginning in 1975, the value of the sol declined continuously as officials attempted to adjust the exchange rate to the rate of inflation. By mid-1985 the sol had deteriorated to more than S/11,900 per US$1, when a new unit of currency, the inti (equivalent to S/1,000), was introduced. By 1990 US$1 equaled about 188,000 intis. Consequently, President Fujimori adopted the new sol, equivalent to 1 million inti, in July 1991. The free exchange rate in Peruvian currency in February 1993 was 2,100 new soles to the dollar.