Madagascar 25000 Francs = 5000 Ariary banknote 1993, the Central Bank of Madagascar - Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara.
Obverse: Olive-green and green on multicolored underprint. Old man at center, outline map of Madagascar at left & avenue of the baobabs at lower right.
Reverse: Scene of traditional bullfighting at right, Emblem of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar (1975–1992) at center.
Watermark: Zebu's head.
Madagascar banknotes - Madagascar paper money
ND (1988-1994) "Horizontal & Vertical Serial #" Issue
500 Francs = 100 Ariary 1000 Francs = 500 Ariary
2500 Francs = 500 Ariary 5000 Francs = 1000 Ariary
10000 Francs = 2000 Ariary 25000 Francs = 5000 Ariary
The Malagasy Ariary is the currency of Madagascar. It is subdivided into 5 iraimbilanja and is one of only two non-decimal currencies currently circulating (the other is the Mauritanian ouguiya). The names ariary and iraimbilanja derive from the pre-colonial currency, with ariary being the name for a silver dollar. Iraimbilanja means literally "one iron weight" and was the name of an old coin worth 1⁄5 of an ariary.
The Malagasy franc was the currency of Madagascar until January 1, 2005. It was subdivided into 100 centimes.
After independence from France, the privilege to issue bank notes was transferred to the Institut d'Émission Malgache on December 31, 1961. The CFA franc was replaced by the Malagasy franc on July 1, 1963. It was pegged to the French franc with the same value as the CFA franc (1 FRF = 50 MGF), guaranteed by the French treasury. Denominations were given both in francs and ariary, with 5 francs = 1 ariary. Madagascar left the CFA franc zone in 1972 and the Malagasy franc was declared inconvertible. Banknotes were issued by the Institut d'Émission Malgache until 1974 when the Banque Centrale de Madagascar (Central Bank of Madagascar) took over that function.
The peg to the French franc was kept until 1982, when a series of devaluations began. Finally, the franc was floated freely in May 1994. On June 1, 1995, the exchange rate had dropped to 1 FRF = 777 MGF. On January 1, 2005, it was replaced by the ariary at a rate of 5 francs to the ariary. By then, the exchange rate was 1 FRF = 1758 MGF (with the FRF value converted from the Euro).