Zim to introduce new bills

HARARE – ZIMBABWE is introducing a new range of bills that will more than double the value of the largest banknote to help reduce the piles of money needed in routine cash transactions in the stricken economy, the central bank announced Tuesday.

Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank, said a Z$50 000 bill, worth 52 US cents, will be released February 1, with a whole new range of bills to follow later in the year. The biggest note currently in circulation is for Z$20 000, worth 20 US cents.With inflation running at 586 per cent, that note buys only half a loaf of bread and is no longer sufficient for a local daily newspaper.Gono did not provide additional details about the new bills in a review of fiscal policy broadcast on state television.The central bank also plans to appoint a body to investigate “corporate governance” that will include retired executives, retired Judge George Smith and David Phiri, a former governor of the central bank of neighbouring Zambia.-Nampa- APThe biggest note currently in circulation is for Z$20 000, worth 20 US cents.With inflation running at 586 per cent, that note buys only half a loaf of bread and is no longer sufficient for a local daily newspaper.Gono did not provide additional details about the new bills in a review of fiscal policy broadcast on state television.The central bank also plans to appoint a body to investigate “corporate governance” that will include retired executives, retired Judge George Smith and David Phiri, a former governor of the central bank of neighbouring Zambia.-Nampa- AP