The Central American Peso (Spanish: Peso Centroamericano) is the official currency of Central America. It was first issued in October of 2001, replacing the former Guatemalan Quetzal, Honduran Lempira, Nicaraguan Córdoba, Costa Rican Colón and the US Dollar, used officially in El Salvador. The shift was done with the purpose of controlling exchange rates, which varied greatly from country to country, and to agilize the developing economy.