Brazilian real

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The real is the national currency of Brazil. The standard abbreviation is "BRL" and its symbol is "R$." The modern-day real was introduced on July 1, 1994, and is maintained by Brazil's central bank, the Banco Central do Brasil ("BCB").

History

The real was first introduced to the country by its Portuguese founders in the 16th century, and went through several iterations until 1942, when it was replaced by the cruzeiro ("Cr$). In 1993, the cruziero was replaced first by the cruzeiro-real and, in July 1994, with the modern-day real. The changes were enacted essentially to raise the nominal value of the nation's currency after decades of massive inflation:

• On August 1, 1993, Cr$ 1,700,500 (one million, seven hundred thousand and five hundred "cruzeiros") came to be expressed as CR$ 1,700.50 (one thousand and seven hundred "cruzeiros reais" and fifty "centavos").
• On July 1, 1994, CR$ 11,000,000 (eleven million "cruzeiros reais") came to be expressed as R$ 4,000 (four thousand "reais").