Zimbabwe reintroduces new higher-denomination bank notes as hyper-inflation soars

The Central Bank in Zimbabwe Wednesday announced it was introducing new higher-denomination Z$10 million, Z$50 million and Z$100 million bank notes in response to soaring hyper-inflation. At the last count in July, inflation in the country was officially pegged at 231 million percent, but is now widely believed to be around one billion percent or more. This has made most of Zimbabwe’s small bank notes worthless, including the current highest note of Z$1 million introduced into circulation two months ago. The new currencies will come into circulation Thursday to coincide with a new increased bank withdrawal limit of Z$20 million a day. Until now, banks only allowed cash withdrawals of Z$500,000 per day.