Best Bitcoin Exchange for Lesotho

Lesotho has an economy largely dependent on agriculture and production, with water and diamonds being the main resources. The country uses the Lesotho Loti as its currency, alongside the South African Rand. The South African rand served as the official currency in Lesotho until 1980, when the Loti became the official legal tender. The first Maloti were introduced in 1966 and were used as a non-circulating currency until 1980. The first issue of Loti in the form of coins and banknotes was in 1979.

Lesotho Loti

Lesotho uses the Loti as its official currency. Introduced in 1966, the Loti was first published in 1980 as a replacement for the South African Rand. The Loti has the symbol L or M for the plural form maloti and uses the code LSL. Each Loti has 100 subdivisions called Sente (Plural Lisente). The Central Bank of Lesotho is responsible for issuing the Loti. The Loti are available in various denominations including the 5, 10, 20 and 50 Lisente coins and the 1, 2 and 5 Maloti coins. The Loti banknotes are 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 maloti. The banknotes come in different designs, colors and sizes, but have a standard width of 70mm. The M10 note measures 130 to 70 mm with red and yellow as main colours. The M20 note is slightly larger and measures 135 of 70 mm, with the main colours purple and light blue. The M50 note is 138mm long and purple in colour. The M100 note is green with a length of 140mm, the M200 note has a length of 145mm and is mainly orange. The counterfeiting of the currency led to the introduction of a new series in 2010.

A Loti consists of one hundred pilaster strips (in singular: Sente). At the same time, the South African rand is accepted as a means of payment throughout the country.

This is easily possible because there is a monetary union between the Lesotho loti and the South African rand, which is why the currencies can be exchanged 1:1. Ten Maloti or Rand roughly correspond to one Euro. Please note that this information is only a guide and that the exchange rate is not constant. At some times the ratio between Euro and Loti/Rand is only 1:8 or sometimes 1:13. Therefore use a daily exchange rate if you want to convert larger amounts from Lesotho’s currency into Euro.

You can easily withdraw money in South Africa and pay in Lesotho. However, this only works well in one direction. Those who want to pay with Maloti in South Africa usually have bad cards, as most shops there only accept South African rand. In Lesotho, you can explicitly indicate that you want Rand as change if you want to get rid of the money before leaving.

Travelers’ cheques can be easily changed at banks in larger cities if they are issued on South African rand. Other currencies (euros or US dollars) are also accepted in most banks, but the exchange process can take a long, long time because many formalities have to be fulfilled. Credit cards are accepted in large hotels in Lesotho and in the Shoprite supermarkets (large Western style supermarkets). In other places, however, almost everything runs on cash.

Exchange rates and inflation

The Lesotho Loti is exchanged with different foreign currencies at different rates. While interest rates change with market conditions, the following exchange rates were valid from June 29, 2017: The Loti and the South African Rand are the same; Loti exchanges 1 US-Dollar for 12.91 Lesotho maloti with the US Dollar; one Euro for 14.45 Lesotho maloti; and one Swiss Franc for 13.30 Lesotho maloti. The Lesotho Loti has an inflation rate of 6.8% mainly due to the changing economic conditions of the regional and global market. Lesotho deals with the export of textiles and minerals to countries such as the USA, South Africa and European countries. Economic crises in these countries have a negative impact on Lesotho’s economy and the value of Loti against foreign tenders.

South African Rand

Although the Loti was introduced as a replacement for the South African Rand, it is still used in the country. Since South Africa and Lesotho are within the marginal currency area, the Rand and the Loti are equivalent. The margin (R) has subdivisions of 100 cents (C) per margin. The South African Reserve Bank issues the rand in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 cents as well as 1 and 2 rand, which are in coin form. Banknotes come in the denominations 10, 20, 50 and 100 rand.