Ecuador chose the US dollar as the national legal tender in 2000 to improve its export performance. On March 13, 2000, the US dollar officially became the legal tender of Ecuador, and on September 1 1 of the same year, Sucre officially stopped circulating. The US dollar is the legal tender of the United States of America, the Republic of El Salvador, the Republic of Panama, the Republic of Ecuador, the Democratic Republic of East Timor, the Republic of Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Kiribati and the Republic of Palau.