Zimbabwe’s central bank is set to introduce a new ZW$100 (about US$0.59) banknote that is expected to be in circulation within the next few weeks, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced on Wednesday.
In a Statutory Instrument published in the Government Gazette, Ncube said the note will have an impression of the Great Zimbabwe monument and a baobab tree.
This will become the sixth banknote introduced in Zimbabwe since 2016. Currently, ZW$10, ZW$20, and ZW$50 banknotes are being accepted by the public as a medium of exchange.
The ZW$2 and ZW$5 banknotes were “decommissioned” in 2019 and 2020 due to rising inflation.
The introduction of the new banknote comes in the wake of the depreciation of the local currency, with the exchange rate now US$1: $ZWL145 on the official forex auction market operated by the central bank, and about US$1: ZWL$270 on a thriving parallel market.
The free fall of the local currency has triggered a sharp rise in prices of basic commodities in recent months.
JN/APA