I noticed many microfinance institutions offer higher rates for riel fixed deposits.
So it could make sense change a relevant (let's say 20,000 $) USD amount into riel and then change the riel back into USD. I wonder however if it is feasable for relevant amounts of riel to be changed back into $ , considering that riels appear to be used only for amounts under 1$.
Do you think the institution would be able to change 80,000,000 riel back to 20,000 USD when the deposit expires ? would a regular bank do it ?

If its in the bank then its just a number on the computer screen
I don't think it would be an issue, it would probably have some fees, the real(Riel haha) issue would be what exchange rate they gave you

from what I can see on banks websites, the USD/KHR forex spread is quite thin.

yeah- the riel is tightly controlled- very strongly coupled to usd- even a small gold component in the band.

i bet you can find a usd product.

but usd nominal cd's in the region are outstanding performers in terms of interest and very low default rates too.

If interests differ, this probably reflects different market perceptions of risk (of depreciation).

Pegged currencies are typically only pegged until they aren't. I have no idea about the Real, but with the general strong dollar sentiment at the moment, I wouldn't put significant amounts of money into something I have to ask others whether it is a real currency

Sorry for bumping this old thing...

General Mackevili wrote:

Vitamin_D wrote:Sorry for bumping this old thing...

We forgive you.

I don't. I'm getting all riled up over this.

Rieled up you mean ?

And the answer to the OP is probably not.

Gaudente wrote:Do you think the institution would be able to change 80,000,000 riel back to 20,000 USD when the deposit expires ? would a regular bank do it ?

They most likely would.

However, the Cambodian banking system mostly operates in US dollars, without lender of last resort, who would be capable of printing US dollars to keep the system afloat, when and if needed. In other words, they are simply running on a variation of the Argentina scenario. They ignore this and are all happily engaged in fractional reserve banking. If one single major bank ever gets into trouble, all the banks will go bust one by one. It is an accident waiting to happen. At that point, the exchange rate for the riel will sink to almost zero. Therefore, there is a real risk associated to holding large amounts of riel, because the Cambodian banking system is systemically unsound.