MekongMouse wrote:Using a foreign currency is pretty common in places where there is little faith in the government / official currency. Considering the recent history of this country, I'm not surprised that Cambodians favor foreign currencies. Quite a few countries use the dollar or at least peg their currency to it. So I think it has less to do with them not liking large bills than a belief that their money is safer in USD than KHR. Not all would agree, but this does appear a common sentiment.
Here in Panama the national currency is also linked to the dollar, at a fixed rate of 1 USD = 1 PAB, and like Cambodia the higher denominations are in Dollars.
Denominations of 1 dollar (balbao) and below are in mixed USD / PAB coins.