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New money to be printed as currency crisis looms

    JOHANNESBURG

    Zimbabwe’s central bank is soon to issue a Z $500 note and a Z $5 coin. News reports quoted Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe spokesperson Ignatius Mabasa saying on Sunday that the new denominations were “for the convenience of the public”. There have been calls for several months for new denominations to be introduced as rampant inflation forces people to carry large and cumbersome bundles of Z$100 notes - the current highest denomination - for routine shopping trips.

    A Sapa report said a 70 percent fuel price hike two weeks ago had pushed the cost of a 50-litre tank of fuel to about US $73 (Z $4,000), making cash payment on the forecourt a long-winded process. The price of fuel is 17 times what it was in 1997 when the same volume of fuel would have required only two Z$100 bills and a couple of lesser notes, the report said.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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