I wouldnt mind getting my hands on that whole series.......

Zimbabwe Independent (Harare)

February 2, 2007
Posted to the web February 2, 2007

Shakeman Mugari


THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will introduce a new currency to replace the current bearer cheques any time soon as part of the Sunrise Project Part Two, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.

The new currency was due to be unveiled at RBZ governor Gideon Gono's monetary policy review held on Wednesday but the announcement was withheld at the last minute after serious policy considerations.


Yesterday Gono confirmed that the currency change was coming soon but could not give further details.

"It's coming soon, as for the features that you are talking about I shall not comment because of security issues," said Gono. "It will be very soon so people must not keep a lot of cash because we are not going back on the currency change."

But government sources said Gono could have been bluffing as the currency was still far from being introuduced.

"This could be a ploy to pre-empt those hoarding cash which is used for blackmarket activities. Gono is playing mind games here," a source said.

Government sources yesterday said the Zanu PF politburo on Wednesday approved the introduction of the new currency and what is left now is for the government through the Ministry of Finance to come up with a Statutory Instrument declaring the new currency.

The Independent was the first paper to reveal in July last year that Gono would slash three zeros from the currency. He later introduced a new family of bearer cheques in August as part of the Sunrise Project.

Gono stated in his address on Wednesday that the new currency was imminent but did not read out the relevant section (Pages 87-88) during the presentation.

"Reflecting this high state of preparedness, I am pleased to unveil to the nation the sample designs of this imminent roll-out under which all the current bearer cheques will be replaced by genuine currency, complete with internationally acclaimed safety features, with convenient characteristics for the visually impaired stakeholders," stated Gono.

Investigations reveal that the new currency, designed and printed by a German company, Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) was approved by Gono between June and October last year. G&D prints currencies for 100 countries in the world including the euro.

The new currency was delivered to Zimbabwe in October and was supposed to be unveiled on Wednesday.

Sources said the notes could not be introduced last year due to a number of technical issues chief among them the need to back the new currency with hard currency or gold. A source said the central bank has since September been building foreign currency stocks in preparation for the introduction of the new currency.

The sources said the central bank was also building up stocks of the new notes which should be introduced throughout the country in a space of 24 hours.

Sources said the imminent currency change is the main reason why Gono did not devalue the Zimbabwean dollar as was widely expected by the market when he presented his ninth monetary policy review statement since taking up his post in December 2003.

The biggest bill under the new currency dispensation is a $1 000 note while the smallest is a $1 note.

The largest under the current regime of notes is a $100 000 bearer's cheque while the smallest has a face value of one cent.

The decision not to introduce the new currency as initially scheduled was taken after consideration of International Monetary Fund (IMF) advice which said any new currency will not halt the economic collapse until the macroeconomic situation has been stabilised. The IMF's Article IV Consultation Mission which visited the country in December advised that there was need for a "package of mutually reinforcing policies to stabilise the economy" before any further policy decisions in the pipeline are implemented.

The IMF mission said the policy changes which include the removal of price distortions through removal of subsidies, curbing the RBZ's quasi-fiscal operations and reduction of money supply would help reduce inflation.

The sources said Gono was hoping that the economy will stabilise sufficiently in the next five months for him to introduce the currency.

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Confidential documents in the possession of this paper which are classified as "Top Secret" show that there will be seven denominations with $1 being the smallest and $1 000 the highest value. The documents show that the notes were approved by Gono between June and October last year. The one and 10 dollar notes were approved by Gono on July 6. The five dollar note was approved on June 30 while the $20 note was signed off on July 20. The $100 and $500 notes were approved in September while the $1 000 note was endorsed by Gono on October 27.

The $1 note has the image of the Victoria Falls and a buffalo while the $5 note shows the Kariba Dam wall and an elephant. The $10 note portrays agricultural activity and grain silos while the $20 note has a portrait of a mine site and a mine with a jack hammer.

The $100 note has a picture of the botanic gardens and the Great Zimbabwe conical tower while the $500 note has a portrait of a dairy farm.

Inflation-hit Zimbabwe has New Banknotes

01 Mar, 2007 - Zimbabwe's central bank, battling the world's highest rate of inflation, Thursday introduced two new banknotes in a bid to make life easier for shoppers. The new notes are in denominations of 5,000 and 50,000 Zimbabwe dollars.

They were announced in a full-page advertisement published in the official Herald newspaper. Officially the new notes are worth 20 and 200 US dollars, but on the widely-used parallel market they are worth much less than that: 50,000 Zimbabwe dollars buys only around 7 US dollars at the moment. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said the new bills were being 'introduced for your (Zimbabweans) convenience.'

Last July the RBZ struck three zeros off the local currency and introduced a new set of bank notes after Zimbabweans had to carry large wads of old currency for simple transactions. But inflation has soared since July and now tops 1,593 per cent. As prices rise, shoppers have once again found themselves forced to carry large stashes of paper cash that often will not fit in purses and wallets. The highest denomination local banknote is currently 100,000 Zimbabwe dollars.

Central bank governor Gideon Gono last month proposed a four-month freeze on all prices and wages starting March 1 in a last-ditch bid to tame inflation. Its still not clear if companies are willing to abide by the freeze.

Extract from Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Heute, 18:18

On another note I noticed that the new $5000 note has February 2007 date as the issue dat but still has 31st July 2007 expiry date, are they going to relaunch a "proper" set of banknotes by this date or is this just so that a load more people will be out of pocket again

Until today, it is just a big mess on the currency issuing matter in this country. It is more like a post dated cheque than a currency. I may consider buying one or two pieces to represent Zimbawe. They are inexpensive especially with the lower denomination.

Until today, it is just a big mess on the currency issuing matter in this country. It is more like a post dated cheque than a currency. I may consider buying one or two pieces to represent Zimbawe. They are inexpensive especially with the lower denomination.

Derrick,the Bearer Cheques are the Zimbabwean inflation banknotes.Officially,inflation is at 1,700%,yet it is more like 1,700,000% inflation.The older issues have become increasingly difficult to find.I was very lucky to have snapped up the 2006 issue of the old $50,000 purple & $100,000 green Bearer Cheques.

Since Mugabe & his fellow nutcases took over what was Rhodesia,Zimbabwe has been a notaphilist's paradise,despite the fact that life in Zimbabwe is like living in the Lake of Fire in Hell.

Aidan.

But was Mugabe always like this? Somebody told me when he first got in power he wasn't that bad.

Now he's just a despot who needs shooting

He probably had the seeds of stupidity long ago, but old age and a failing sense of reality have made him crazier than a bed bug the past few years. He is 83 yrs old.

Too bad the British cannot come in with South Africa , Zambia, and Botswana and just invade and "regime change" the place. Sadly Zimbabwe is one of those countries that was never prepared for independence. The forcible seizure of the white owned farms started the whole mess, and now that land appropriation and the resultant chaos that has caused will take generations to fix.

It will not be long before he is plowed under, but whomever replaces him from within will not be good for Zimbabwe either ~ the whole political scene there needs to be flushed out and started all over again - which is why I suggest that the Commonwealth needs to take the lead, because they can do it and make something good happen.

But was Mugabe always like this? Somebody told me when he first got in power he wasn't that bad.

Now he's just a despot who needs shooting

Johnny,Mugabe was a mass murderer even prior to 1980.Ian Smith was right.His regime left Rhodesia with a very strong economy.Ordinary black Rhodesians didn't starve.

Mugabe,on the other hand,portrayed himself as a liberator.He was the one who brought both Rhodesia down,& the economy is down the pan.I can understand why more than a quarter of the population of that deeply troubled country have fled.

Zimbabwe will need to have a lot of support from the international community once Mugabe's gone.I can guess that Zimbabwe will be returned to its British Commonwealth membership.

If the British had taken a much firmer line against Ian Smith,who knows,there could have been an independent Dominion of Rhodesia still existing today,albeit,recognised as a fully independent British Commonwealth member state under the Crown.Mugabe should have been shot years ago!

Aidan.

Thanks for the info, I never realised he was always a murdering b*stard.

I think Rhodesia was one of the African nations that gain independance too quickly (they were ill prepared for it). They were at first known as Rhodesia when they took unofficial independance, is that correct?

The Zimbabwe name has only been around since 1980 I believe

Here's an article about Rhodesia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia .

Aidan.

De centrale bank van Zimbabwe maakte dinsdag bekend een nieuw bankbiljet van 200.000 Zimbabwaanse dollar in omloop te brengen om de bevolking van het zuidelijke Afrikaanse land te helpen om te gaan met de hyperinflatie. De waarde van het nieuwe biljet bedraagt volgens de officiële wisselkoers 800 Amerikaanse dollar. Op de zwarte markt is het bankbiljet slechts 1,40 dollar waard.

Harare mulls new $500 000 bearer note print friendly version



author/source:Zim Online (SA)
published:Mon 30-Jul-2007
posted on this site:Mon 30-Jul-2007

Article Type : News

Inflation-hit Zimbabwe is considering introducing a Z$500 000 bearer cheque

By Thulani Munda

Harare - Inflation-hit Zimbabwe is considering introducing a Z$500 000 bearer cheque note as the country's currency continues on its free-fall, Zim Online has learnt. Sources within Zimbabwe's central bank said the new note together with another new Z$200 000 bearer cheque, could be introduced any time soon. "The $200 000 note could be introduced anytime from now, although the idea was to have the two new notes launched together," a government source said. "The problem is that some senior officials within government are not keen to have the Z$500 000 note insisting this would an admission that things are not well in this country," he added. Zimbabwe's current highest denomination is the Z$100 000 bearer cheque, which, on the official foreign currency market, can only buy four loaves of bread. Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi could not be reached for comment on the matter yesterday. Zimbabwe is battling a severe economic crisis that has manifested itself in the world's highest inflation rate of nearly 5 000 percent. In addition to rampant inflation, the southern African country is also grappling with unemployment of around 80 percent, food shortages and just about every other survival commodity. Western governments and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party blame the crisis on repression and bad policies by President Robert Mugabe, in power over the past 27 years. Bearer cheques are promissory notes first were introduced by the central bank at the height of cash shortages four years ago. Bearer cheques are used in the same way as money.

Zimbabwe to unveil new currency by year-end
Posted Tue Oct 2, 2007 6:44am AEST

A new currency is to be unveiled in Zimbabwe by year-end in a fresh bid to rein in galloping inflation, the central bank chief has said.

"It is over a year since we launched Operation Sunrise One which saw the slashing of three zeros" off the country's currency, Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono said in his mid-term monetary policy review statement.

"Speculation and expectation have been high about when Operation Sunrise Two is coming. Indeed, I can confirm that Sunrise Two is coming and it is coming very soon."

He warned businesses and individuals from keeping huge sums of money saying that they would risk losing their money as the central bank will impose strict deposit thresholds during the changeover to the new currecy.

Gono said the new currency to replace the current series of bearer cheques which have a short lifespan would be introduced before the end of the year.

Zimbabwe is in the throes of economic crisis characterised by world-record inflation at 6,592 per cent, shortages of basic foodstuffs like sugar and cooking oil and mass unemployment.

"I never thought we would get to this level but I am not scared," said Mr Gono.

In June, Minister of Trade Obert Mpofu ordered businesses to halve the prices of goods accusing businesses of fuelling inflation and working in conjunction with President Robert Mugabe's foes in the West.

Mr Gono also warned over "dangers" in a bill approved last week by the legislators which allows locals a majority stake in foreign-owned firms - a move the opposition warned could further batter the economy.

"As monetary authorities we fully support the noble objective of empowering the majority of the Zimbabweans through the introduction of enabling statutes that expand wider involvement for the people in the mainstream economy."

"Noble as this objective is, our well considered advice to legislators and the government in general is that a fine balance should be struck between the objectives of indigenisation and the need to attract foreign investment," he said.

-AFP

RBZ introduces higher denomination bank notes

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By MacDonald Dzirutwe
Last updated: 12/19/2007 23:30:45
ZIMBABWE'S central bank on Wednesday announced the introduction of higher denomination banknotes to help end a cash crunch that has seen people besiege banks.

Central bank governor Gideon Gono announced in a televised speech that the Z$200,000 bill -- currently the highest value note and equivalent to $6.66 at the official rate and $0.12 on the widely used black market -- would be phased out by Jan. 1.

Gono said higher-value Z$750,000, Z$500,000 and Z$250,000 bills would start circulating on Thursday in an attempt to end cash shortages that have forced some people to sleep outside banks in the hunt for cash amid a severe economic crisis blamed on President Robert Mugabe's policies.

Critics say the new banknotes will do little to address the causes of Zimbabwe's economic slide, which include the world's highest inflation rate, acute shortages of foreign currency, food and fuel, and unemployment of nearly 80 percent.

Gono said the Z$200,000 note was the most used by illegal dealers.

He said individual depositors would not be allowed to bank more than Z$50 million and any excess funds would be forfeited to the government. All banks would from Thursday be manned by government officials to monitor cash deposits.

"The cash shortages will be a thing of the past. Within the next few days there will be sufficient cash to go about our business," Gono said.

Tempers have been fraying more than usual in recent days as Zimbabweans have crowded into banks in search of cash, which is in short supply ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Gono said he had refused calls by the business sector to lop zeros off the Zimbabwe dollar to make life easier for shoppers, who now must carry piles of cash to make even simple purchases.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe chief again accused senior government and business officials of being the brains behind a flourishing illegal parallel market in foreign currency, fuel, diamonds and gold.

Gono said the stringent deposit requirements would expose the "cash barons" and that there would be a "serious clean-up" of banks he accused of working with illegal dealers to siphon cash out of the banking system.

When challenged in an interview after his televised speech to name the officials involved in illegal activities, Gono said he would divulge the information to parliament if asked.

"I will be happy to name some of these cash barons before a parliamentary committee. If they (parliamentary committee) have got the guts, I will give them a full house." - Reuters

Security features for the new bearer Cheque´s

and many elephant´s

http://www.rbz.co.zw/pdfs/bearer.pdf

16/01/2008 15:40 HARARE, Jan 16 (AFP)
Zimbabwe to introduce more new notes
New bank notes, including a 10 million dollar bill, will go into circulation in inflation-ravaged Zimbabwe this week, the central bank's governor said on Wednesday.

Less than a month after announcing a similar move, Gideon Gono said the new notes would provide much needed relief to consumers who often have to go shopping with sacks of cash.

"With effect from Friday (January 18), the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is releasing the following bearer cheques into circulation: one million dollars (officially worth about 33 US dollars/22 euros), five million dollars and 10 million dollars," Reserve Bank Governor Gono told a news conference.

"Further to provide relief and convenience to the transacting public, daily cash withdrawals have been increased from the current 50 million zimdollars to 500 million per individual. This takes effect from Friday," he said.

Last December 19, Gono announced the immediate introduction of higher denominations of banknotes in a bid to tackle cash shortages fed by runaway inflation.

The following day, 250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 zimdollar notes officially came into circulation.

Gono had expressed hope at the time that the new notes would mean "cash shortages will be a thing of the past" but they continued unabated.

The southern African country is gripped by an economic crisis, characterised by the world's highest rate of inflation officially put at around 8,000, shortages of basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil, and mass unemployment.

"As monetary authorities we once again assure the nation that we are in full control of the currency situation in the country and it is never our intention, nor is it part of our philosophy, to cause unnecessary pain to fellow Zimbabweans," Gono told reporters.

"In this regard, the central bank will continue to formulate and implement tangible solutions to the challenges that the financial sector is currently facing for the benefit and convenience of the public."

The bank governor said the situation was being exacerbated by what he termed as "indiscipline" and corruption.

Speculation "has become endemic in our country and this is now disrupting the free circulation of cash in the economy".

"There is growing evidence that part of what we see as cash queues at banks is partly an indication of inflated demand for cash as some depositors have developed a perpetual habit of withdrawing their entire savings even if they have no immediate need for cash," he added.

Zimbabwe gets $50 million bank note
The Associated Press

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
An unidentified man holds the new $50 million Zimbabwean dollar note introduced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in Harare, Friday, April, 4, 2008. In a desperate attempt to stabilize the faltering economy, Zimbabwean authorities on Friday introduced a new $50 million bank note, state media reported. The new note is worth one American dollar at the widely-used black market trading and can buy just three loaves of bread.
How much does it cost for a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe?

With inflation raging at more than 100,000 percent, a loaf costs 16 million Zimbabwe dollars.

Now, Zimbabweans can buy three loaves with only one bank note. Authorities on Friday introduced a new 50 million bank note, state media reported.

The new Zimbabwe dollar note is worth $1 at the widely used black market trading and can buy just three loaves of bread.

It was the third time in three months that the nation's central bank issued a higher denomination note in response to record inflation.

(This version corrects price of bread to 16 million Zimbawean dollars, not 50 million.)




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[email="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/inflation187.18130.html"]RBZ eases foreign exchange rules[/email]By MacDonald Dzirutwe

Last updated: 04/30/2008 17:59:18
ZIMBABWE'S central bank eased foreign exchange rules on Wednesday, allowing commercial banks to set the currency rate to help thwart a thriving parallel black market.

The southern African country is in economic meltdown with official inflation at 165,000 percent, unemployment of more than 80 percent and consumers facing chronic shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono said the country would move away from the current fixed exchange rate to a willing-buyer, willing-seller policy.

"Under this framework, authorised dealers will match sellers and buyers of foreign exchange guided by a pre-determined priority list as set from time to time by the Reserve Bank," he said in a monetary policy speech.

The top priorities would be food and agriculture inputs.

Currently, the official rate is Z$30,000 to the dollar, while the national revenue authority uses a rate of Z$270,000.

It trades as high as Z$190 million on the black market.

John Mangudya, head of the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe: "We (banks) get to set the rate because this is on a willing buyer, willing seller basis."

"If the central bank tries to set the rate then there will be no willing seller," Mangudya said, adding he hoped to meet with the Reserve bank on Friday to get more detail on the new policy.

Gono also announced that the main lending rate would increase to 4,500 percent from 4,000 percent and vowed to tame rocketing inflation.

"We remain committed as ever before to tame this dragon. This dragon cannot be allowed to continue and we will be dealing a decisive blow to its existence," he said, without giving further details.

Zimbabwe's inflation is the highest in the world.

The policy changes come amidst a political crisis over a delay in announcing presidential election results.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he won the March 29 election outright and accuses President Robert Mugabe of delaying the result to rig victory. - Reuters

Reserve Bank unveils $250 million note

Last updated: 05/05/2008 21:42:05
ZIMBABWE'S central bank, currently grappling with record-breaking inflation, has introduced a new high-denomination bank note of a quarter of a billion dollars, state television reported Monday.

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's governor Gideon Gono has unveiled a new 100 million and 250 million dollar... note and this will be in circulation starting tomorrow (Tuesday)," reported state television.

The report said the new note was for "the convenience of the banking public and the corporate sector."

This is the second set of high denomination notes to be issued this year, the last on April 2 when a 50 million dollar note was put into circulation after the introduction of a Z$10 million note in January.

Last December 19, Gono announced the immediate introduction of higher denominations of banknotes in a bid to tackle cash shortages fed by runaway inflation.

The following day, Z$250,000, Z$500,000 and Z$750,000 notes officially came into circulation.

The southern African nation, currently gripped by a post-election crisis, has been ravaged by hyperinflation which reached 165,000 percent in February.

It decided recently to float its currency to eliminate speculation on the black market.

The official exchange rate in Zimbabwe has been kept at Z$30,000 for one US dollar since September 2007 -- but on the thriving black market, one US dollar can be exchanged for around Z$100 million.

The country's chronic economic crisis has condemned millions to grinding poverty with at least 80 percent of the population living below the poverty threshold amid mass shortages of basic goods in shops.