The Malagasy ariary is the official currency of Madagascar. The ISO code for the Malagasy ariary is MGA. The ariary is only one of two circulating currencies in the world with division units not based on a power of ten, but instead each ariary consists of five iraimbilanja. On January 1, 2005 the ariary replaced the previous currency, the Malagasy franc. One Malagasy franc was valued at 0.2 ariarys (one iraimbilanja). The banknotes show how many francs they are worth, however it has not been done for the coins.
Sovereign Ratings for Madagascar
Madagascar is not rated.
What does it look like?
Political Structure
The republic of Madagascar is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive branch consists of a president, prime minister, and a cabinet called the Council of Ministers. The president serves a five-year term and is elected by popular vote. The president appoints the prime minister and the Council of Ministers. The legislative branch is composed of a bicameral National Assembly with 160 seats. The members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. There is also a Senate with 100 seats. Two-thirds of the seats are members of regional assemblies who are elected by popular vote while the other one- third of the seats is appointed by the president. All of the 100 members serve a four-year term. The judicial branch is comprised of a Supreme Court and a High Constitutional Court.
Prominent Figures
The chief of state in Macedonia is President Branko Crvenkovski, who was elected into office on May 12, 2004. The head of government in Macedonia is Prime Minister Charles Rabemananjara. The Cabinet in Macedonia is a Council of Ministers elected by the majority vote of all the deputies in the Assembly.
Unique Characteristics
In 2005, DreamWorks released a movie about the country entitled Madagascar. Although the film did not experience great success, citizens are hoping that the portrayal of the island nation will spark the tourism sector of the economy. When the movie "Out of Africa" was released it caused a boom in Kenya's tourism over the course of the next five years. Madagascans are hoping for a similar effect.
Key Economic Factors
Although formerly a socialist economy, Madagascar has been following a World Bank and IMF led policy of privatization and liberalization since the mid-1990s. Since then, the country's economy has been following a slow and steady growth path from an extremely low level. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing four-fifths of the population. Exports of apparel have boomed in recent years primarily due to duty-free access to the United States. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel are serious concerns. President Ravalomanana has worked aggressively to revive the economy following the 2002 political crisis, which triggered a 12% drop in GDP that year. Poverty reduction and combating corruption will be the centerpieces of economic policy for the next few years.
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