Glossary

Definitions of terms used throughout CountryReports.

This glossary contains 1,144 terms used throughout CountryReports — political, economic, cultural, historical, and geographic terminology referenced in country profiles and articles. Terms are drawn from authoritative sources including the Library of Congress.

sol (S/): 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.
sucre (S/): The national currency. From 1971 to 1981, the sucre was pegged to the United States dollar at S/25=US$1. Because this rate overvalued the sucre and dampened exports, the government allowed a steady devaluation of the currency throughout the first half of the 1980s. By 1985, the official exchange rate averaged S/69=US$1. In August 1986, President León Febres Cordero Ribadeneyra (1984-88) transferred all private sector transactions to the higher free market rate and determined to close the gap between that rate and the official intervention rate through regular currency adjustments. The official rate averaged S/123=US$1 in 1986 and S/170=US$1 in 1987. Responding to growing external indebtedness, capital flight, and rising inflation, the free market rate climbed to S/400=US$1 by March 1988. In response, Febres Cordero established a controlled rate for imports and exports and limited movement to within 10 percent of the prevailing official rate of S/250=US$1. As was the case in the early 1980s, the severely overvalued official currency (the free market rate climbed to S/550=US41 by July 1988) hindered export activity. Upon assuming the presidency in August 1988, Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (1988- ) devalued the controlled rate to S/390=US$1 and adopted a program to further devalue the currency by 30 percent per year. In May 1989, Borja accelerated this program to nearly 40 percent per year. Consequently, the official rate averaged S/526=US$1 and had closed to within 6 percent of the free market rate.