Currency, Money, Economy

Working with money in this African country is somewhat difficult for most foreigners, and there are not many foreign exchange outlets. Great Britain Pounds are readily accepted and US Dollars are sometimes also appreciated, but credit cards are often rejected. Travelers checks are only accepted at four-star or more hotels so it is usually best to exchange a reasonable amount of cash into GBP and Algerian dinars in one sitting.

The local currency is the Algerian dinar (DZD/AD), which is made up of 100 centimes. Coins are available in 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 groupings while notes are available in 1000, 500, 200, 100 and 50 dinar denominations. These are widely accepted around the country and it is best to get as much of your money converted as you can. This can be done at the local bank in the city you are visting, which is usually open from 9am to 3pm from Monday to Thursday.

Though efforts have been made to make foreign exchange easier in Algeria, opportunities to exchange your money into the local currency remain quite limited. Therefore it is usually best to exchange enough money at a time to carry you through until your next money changing opportunity. The banks you will come across in Algeria are Banque d’Algerie, (Bank of Algeria); and Banque Nationale d’Algerie (National Bank of Algeria). They will be able to perform this service for you quite effectively.

back to Culture