No, exotic pairs are not exotic belly dancers who happen to be twins.
An exotic currency is a currency from countries with developing or emerging markets.
Exotic currency pairs are made up of one major currency paired with the currency of an emerging economy, such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Turkey, or Hungary.
Basically, an exotic currency pair includes one major currency alongside an exotic currency. The chart below contains a few examples of exotic currency pairs.
Wanna take a shot at guessing what those other currency symbols stand for?
Depending on your forex broker, you may see the following exotic currency pairs so it’s good to know what they are.
Keep in mind that these pairs aren’t as heavily traded as the “majors” or “crosses,” so the transaction costs associated with trading these pairs are usually bigger.
| CURRENCY PAIR | COUNTRIES | FX GEEK SPEAK |
|---|---|---|
| USD/BRL | United States / Brazil | “dollar real” |
| USD/HKD | United States / Hong Kong | |
| USD/SAR | United States / Saudi Arabia | “dollar riyal” |
| USD/SGD | United States / Singapore | “dollar sing” |
| USD/ZAR | United States / South Africa | “dollar rand” |
| USD/THB | United States / Thailand | “dollar baht” |
| USD/MXN | United States / Mexico | “dollar mex” |
| USD/RUB | United States / Russia | “dollar ruble” or “Barney” |
| USD/PLN | United States / Poland | “dollar zloty” |
| USD/CLP | United States/ Chile |
It’s not unusual to see spreads that are two or three times bigger than that of EUR/USD or USD/JPY.
Due to the overall lower degree of liquidity, exotic currency pairs tend to be far more sensitive to economic and geopolitical events.
For example, a political scandal or unexpected election results can cause an exotic pair’s exchange rate to swing violently.
So if you want to trade exotics currency pairs, remember to factor this into your decision.
For those of y’all who are really mesmerized by exotics, here’s a more comprehensive list.
| CURRENCY CODE | COUNTRY | CURRENCY CODE | COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|---|
| AED | UAE Dirham | ARS | Argentinean Peso |
| AFN | Afghanistan Afghani | GEL | Georgian Lari |
| MYR | Malaysian Ringgit | AMD | Armenian Dram |
| GYD | Guyanese Dollar | MZN | Mozambique new Metical |
| AWG | Aruban Florin | IDR | Indonesian Rupiah |
| OMR | Omani Rial | AZN | Azerbaijan New Manat |
| IQD | Iraqi Dinar | QAR | Qatari Rial |
| BHD | Bahraini Dinar | IRR | Iranian Rial |
| SLL | Sierra Leone Leone | BWP | Botswana Pula |
| JOD | Jordanian Dinar | TJS | Tajikistani Somoni |
| BYR | Belarusian Ruble | KGS | Kyrgyzstani Som |
| TMT | Turkmenistan new Manat | CDF | Congolese Franc |
| LBP | Lebanese Pound | TZS | Tanzanian Schilling |
| DZD | Algerian Dinar | LRD | Liberian Dollar |
| UZS | Uzbekistan Som | EGP | Egyptian Pound |
| MAD | Moroccan Dirham | WST | Samoan Tala |
| EEK | Estonian Kroon | MNT | Mongolian Tugrik |
| MWK | Malawi Kwacha | ETB | Ethiopian Birr |
| THB | Thai Baht | TRY | New Turkish Lira |
| ZAR | South African Rand | ZWD | Zimbabwe Dollar |
| BRL | Brazilian Real | CLP | Chilean Peso |
| CNY | Chinese Yuan Renminbi | CZK | Czech Koruna |
| HKD | Hong Kong Dollar | HUF | Hungarian Forint |
| ILS | Israeli Shekel | INR | Indian Rupee |
| ISK | Icelandic Krona | KRW | South Korean Won |
| KWD | Kuwaiti Dinar | MXN | Mexican Peso |
| PHP | Philippine Peso | PKR | Pakistani Rupee |
| PLN | Polish Zloty | RUB | Russian Ruble |
| SAR | Saudi Arabian Riyal | SGD | Singaporean Dollar |
| TWD | Taiwanese Dollar |
DID YOU KNOW? There are 180 legal currencies in the world, as recognized by the United Nations. That’s a lot of potential currency pairs! Unfortunately, not all of them are readable. Forex brokers tend to offer traders up to 70 currency pairs.
Aside from the three main categories of currency pairs, there are other “groups” of currencies that are thrown around in the FX world that you should be aware of.
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