The vatu is the currency of Vanuatu. The vatu was introduced in 1981, one year after independence, to replace the New Hebrides franc at par. The vatu was issued as a single unit with no subunit, having 1 vatu being the smallest denomination possible, in a similar vein to the Japanese yen and Tajikistani ruble. The official ISO code for the Vanuatu vatu is VUV. Its nationally recognized symbol Vt is the most often used in written format. The vatu's introduction also saw the end of the official circulation of the Australian dollar in Vanuatu.