Which country uses the balboa as its official currency?

The country that uses the balboa as its official currency is Panama.

The Panamanian balboa was introduced in 1904, shortly after Panama became independent from Colombia. It was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish explorer associated with the European discovery of the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. The balboa is divided into 100 centésimos, equivalent to cents.

Panama’s currency arrangement is unusual because the country uses United States dollars extensively alongside its own currency. Balboa coins circulate at the same value as matching U.S. coins, but Panama does not issue its own regularly circulating banknotes. U.S. dollar notes are therefore the paper money most people encounter in daily transactions.

This makes the question easy to mix up with neighboring Central American countries, whose currencies include the lempira in Honduras, the córdoba in Nicaragua and the colón in Costa Rica. Panama’s monetary system reflects its close historical and economic ties with the United States, including the role of the Panama Canal and the country’s dollar-based banking and commercial economy.