Money

Getting Malagasy money is impossible outside Madagascar. Instead you will need to change money when you arrive at Tana airport. There are Bureau de Changes in the arrivals hall where you can do this, and one is always open for flights arriving at night. On arrival change enough money to cover any time you will be spending in Tana and getting to Toliara (the airport rates are usually reasonable and the pound and euro are so strong that your money will go a long way regardless).

If you are coming from the UK we suggest bringing some pounds sterling as it is possible for you to change these in Tana, and the pound is strong at the moment. However, in Toliara it is difficult to change pounds and we recommend that you bring euros for most of your cash needs. US dollars can be changed in Tana and Toliara, but the banks do not like large ($100) or small (less than $10) denomination notes and give a poorer rate for dirty or creased notes.

We suggest that you bring half of your money as traveller’s cheques, which can be changed at banks throughout Madagascar. But please note that you MUST bring the receipt stub with you to Madagascar and present it with the cheque when you wish to change it - if you have no stub they will not be accepted.

Credit cards can be used in many shops in Tana, but fewer in Toliara, it is also often treated as a cash advance so be aware of any additional fees your credit card company may charge for overseas cash advances. Visa credit cards are the most popular and can be used in shops and ATMs in both Tana and Toliara. MasterCard is only accepted in a limited number of places in Tana.

Should you need to arrange an emergency cash transfer, there is a Western Union office in Toliara.

The Madagascan monetary system is currently undergoing changes as the old colonial currency, the Malagasy franc (FMG), is replaced by the Ariary (the original Malagasy currency prior to French colonisation).

The old FMG denomination is written on all new Ariary notes but care should be taken when paying for anything as you could be fooled into paying a lot more (or a lot less) than is necessary. The Ariary is exactly one fifth of the FMG value.

In Tana most prices are quoted in Ariary but in Toliara people still quote prices in the old FMG currency. Always check the currency when agreeing prices, especially with transport and street vendors where it is not always clear which currency they are using.

The table below gives a quick guide to the currency denominations and their approximate values:

Ariary = FMG = £UK = $US = €
100 = 500 = 2 pence / 5 cents / 3 cents
200 = 1,000 = 5 pence / 10 cents / 7 cents
500 = 2,500 = 12 pence / 25 cents / 17 cents
1,000 = 5,000 = 25 pence / 50 cents / 35 cents
2,000 = 10,000 = 50 pence / $1 / 70 cents
5,000 = 25,000 = £1.25 / $2.50 / € 1.75
10,000 = 50,000 = £2.50 / $5 / € 3.50

(Exchange rates based on July 2006.)

The switch over from FMG to Ariary is due to take place in 2007. You will find that in Tana, this has been fairly well implemented. However in Toliara and Ifaty there may well still be people talking in FMG prices.

In addition to the change over, there is the issue of old FMG notes. These have no Ariary amounts on them and show the FMG value clearly in large numbers. If you are in doubt look for an Ariary and FMG value - if it doesn’t have both it is an FMG note and you should not accept it.

In general you will only be using notes in Madagascar, although you will occasionally be given coins as change. Their value is very small, but they do come in handy sometimes to avoid getting more change as coins!

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