Uruguayans refer to periods of real appreciation of the currency as atraso cambiario, which literally means that "the exchange rate is running late" towards future devaluement.

As a consequence of the instability of the local currency, prices for most big-ticket items (real estate, cars and even executives' salaries) are denominated in U.S. dollars.

In 2002, after a banking crisis and amid a huge budget deficit, the currency was again allowed to float, losing almost 50% of its value in a couple of weeks, and, again, throwing into bankruptcy thousands of companies and individuals who held debts denominated in US dollars.

This revaluation hurt exporters and brought protests from the industrial sector, which felt that it lost competitiveness, but by July 2020, the peso had depreciated to over 40 to the dollar.

Uruguay does not seem to have found a mechanism that provides the exchange rate some level of predictability, while at the same time allowing the country to adapt its prices so that its exports remain competitive.

Sweden and Uruguay are notable not just for the advanced stage of their work but the amount of information their central banks have made publicly available about their respective projects.

[6][neutrality is disputed] Uruguay maintains a currency account unit named Unidad Previsional (UP), ISO 4217 code UYW.