Zimbabwe has received 60,000 kg in freshly printed higher denomination banknotes.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said the ZWD 10 and ZWD 20 banknotes were printed to complement the ZWD 2 and ZWD 5 banknotes.
The new set of notes were introduced to increase physical money supply and curb cash shortages.
ZimLive reports the new notes were delivered to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by a Boeing 747-48EF(SCD) cargo plane which flew out of Leipzig in Germany.
According to the news site, RBZ has previously declined to disclose where its banknotes are printed, while coins are known to be minted in South Africa.
Based on where the plane originated, it is highly likely the banknotes were printed by the Leipzig division of Giesecke & Devrient, ZimLive reports.
According to the news site, Zimbabwe is grappling with its worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by shortages of foreign exchange, medicine and cash as frustration over President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government grows.
The country reintroduced its currency a year ago, ending a decade of dollarisation.
But with no foreign or gold reserves to back it up, ZimLive reports the value of the Zimbabwean dollar has plunged while inflation has soared as residents fear a return to the 2008 hyperinflation period which forced the country to abandon its currency.
Mthuli Ncube, Minister of Finance, recently warned that the country is headed for a health and economic “catastrophe” from the coronavirus pandemic, because its debts mean it cannot access foreign lenders.
ZimLive reports lenders like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank stopped lending to Zimbabwe in 1999 after the country defaulted on its debt repayments.
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