The riel (/riˈɛl/; Khmer: រៀល, romanized: riĕl [riəl]; sign: ៛; code: KHR) is the currency of Cambodia.

Since the late 1990s, the riel has had an unofficial fixed exchange rate of 4,100:1 with United States dollar, Cambodia's second de facto currency for commercial transactions.

It is more likely that it derives from the high-silver content Spanish-American dollar, whose value is eight reales, a coin widely used for international trade in Asia and the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries.

[citation needed] Dollarization started in the 1980s and continued to the early 90s when the United Nations contributed humanitarian aid,[3] refugees began sending remittances home, and inflation as high as 177% per year eroded confidence in the riel.

[citation needed] While the riel remains in common use in the provinces, the major cities and tourist areas heavily use the U.S. dollar.

The latter is dispensed in ATMs, accepted in virtually all purchases, and USD quotations are required to price hotel rooms, airline tickets and significant financial transactions.

[1] In June 2020, the National Bank of Cambodia announced the phaseout from wide circulation of small U.S. dollar banknotes of $1, $2 and $5.

[5] At the same time, the two other branches of the Institut had similar arrangements with the đồng in South Vietnam and the kip in Laos.