Check out ::strfmon http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/functions/strfmon.html EXAMPLES Given a locale for the U.S. and the values 123.45, -123.45, and 3456.781, the following output might be produced. Square brackets ( "[]" ) are used in this example to delimit the output. %n [$123.45] Default formatting [-$123.45] [$3,456.78] %11n [ $123.45] Right align within an 11-character field [ -$123.45] [ $3,456.78] %#5n [ $ 123.45] Aligned columns for values up to 99999 [-$ 123.45] [ $ 3,456.78] %=*#5n [ $***123.45] Specify a fill character [-$***123.45] [ $*3,456.78] %=0#5n [ $000123.45] Fill characters do not use grouping [-$000123.45] even if the fill character is a digit [ $03,456.78] %^#5n [ $ 123.45] Disable the grouping separator [-$ 123.45] [ $ 3456.78] %^#5.0n [ $ 123] Round off to whole units [-$ 123] [ $ 3457] %^#5.4n [ $ 123.4500] Increase the precision [-$ 123.4500] [ $ 3456.7810] %(#5n [$ 123.45] Use an alternative pos/neg style [($ 123.45)] [$ 3,456.78] %!(#5n [ 123.45] Disable the currency symbol [( 123.45)] [ 3,456.78] %-14#5.4n [ $ 123.4500 ] Left-justify the output [-$ 123.4500 ] [ $ 3,456.7810 ] %14#5.4n [ $ 123.4500] Corresponding right-justified output [ -$ 123.4500] [ $ 3,456.7810]