Cuban Peso (CUP)

Basic Concepts of the Cuban Peso

The Cuban Peso (CUP) is the official currency of the Republic of Cuba, issued and managed by the Central Bank of Cuba. Its currency code is CUP, and the common symbol is $ or $MN to distinguish it from the Convertible Peso (CUC).The CUP is mainly used for daily domestic transactions, and is the main means of payment for the Cuban population, with the exchange rate strictly controlled by the government.

Country of Use

The Cuban Peso circulates and is used only within Cuba and is the legal tender of the country. Cuba has a dual currency system, with the CUP coexisting with the convertible peso (CUC), but the CUP is the main currency of the indigenous economy, covering retail sales, public services, and wage payments.

Units and Denominations

The Cuban peso is based on the decimal system, with one peso equaling 100 cents. Coin denominations include 1, 2, 5, 20 cents, and 1, 3, and 5 pesos; and banknote denominations are 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 pesos. These denominations are often designed with Cuban historical figures and national symbols.

Historical Background

The Cuban peso originated in 1857 and was initially pegged to the Spanish peso; after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the monetary system underwent several reforms; in 1994, the convertible peso (CUC) was introduced in response to the economic crisis, creating a two-tier system; in 2021, Cuba launched a process of monetary unification, phasing out the CUC and reinforcing the CUP as the sole legal tender, in order to simplify the structure of the economy.