Welcome to Will's Online
World Paper Money
Gallery
BANKNOTE NEWSWIRE
Article#0002 Date: 31 May 2006 Country: Zimbabwe
Zim introduces new Z$100 000 note to stem
cash crisis!
May 31, 2006, 00.05 HRS BST
The new Z$100 000 note is unlikely to bring any relief to embattled Zimbabwean
consumers.
HARARE - The Zimbabwean government has said it will be introducing a new 100 000
dollar note (£0.22) on June 1 to ease widespread cash shortages that have seen
long queues resurface at banking instituitions around the country.
Zim extends life of 'temporary' currency!
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono told state television on Tuesday
that the new note was in line with the country's rampant inflation which
currently stands at a staggering 1 042.9 percent and the highest in the world.
The Harare authorities introduced the bearer cheques, which are not cash but
function exactly as ordinary banknotes, as a stop gap measure in 2003 after
severe cash shortages that gripped the country.
The cheques were initially to be withdrawn from circulation after one year but
three years later remain the main means of cash transaction as Harare grapples
with an unprecedented economic crisis that has been described by the World Bank
as unseen for a country not at war.
Banks in Harare began rationing cash last weekend with clients being allowed to
withdraw only a maximum of Z$5 million per individual. There were long queues at
most banks and building societies in the capital Harare yesterday.
A manager with a local bank in Harare who refused to be named for professional
reasons said they had begun limiting withdrawals to a maximum of Z$5 million per
individual because of the cash shortage.
Harare resident Joseph Chihota, told a Zimbabwean newspaper yesterday that he
had queued for close to four hours at a bank in central Harare before he was
allowed to withdraw $5 million or a third of the $15 million he had hoped to
get.
"It is the hardest thing to do to have to queue for so many hours to access your
savings and then being told you can only withdraw such a little amount," said a
visibly angry Chihota.
Zimbabwe is in its sixth year of a bitter economic crisis critics blame on
President Robert Mugabe's policies. With an inflation rate of more than 1 000
percent, prices of basic commodities are rising on a daily basis forcing
consumers to withdraw huge sums of money from banks.
Zimbabwe’s electricity import bill up 12000%!
Earlier this year, the Zimbabwe government introduced a new Z$50 000 bearer
cheque in line with the country's galloping inflation.
Economists last month warned that inflation was set to rise further after Mugabe
awarded hefty salary increments to teachers and soldiers in a move they said was
meant to buy the army's support ahead of opposition protests this winter.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party has threatened to
unleash street demonstrations this winter to protest against worsening economic
conditions in the country.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund blame Mugabe for ruining the
country's once vibrant economy through mismanagement particularly his policy of
seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks six years ago.
Original Article:
http://www.gozimbabwe.com/bearer_060531.html
BACK TO HOMEPAGE
Page created: 7 June 2006
Last Update: 7 June 2006
Maps are provided by Graphic Maps
All maps provided by them bear their copyright information.
All scans shown here are of actual notes from my collection unless otherwise
noted.
Images and content unless otherwise noted are copyrighted.
(c) 2006 Will's Online World Paper Money Gallery