The Ethiopia government on Monday unveiled new currency notes replacing the old ones, the currency has enhanced security features and other distinctive elements that will help curb the circulation of counterfeit notes.
The new currency is Birr notes 10, 50 and 100 denominations, in addition to introducing a new Birr 200 note.
This announcement was made public by the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, “the new notes will curb financing of illegal activities, corruption and contraband.”
Ethiopians have a three- month period to exchange the old currency notes for new ones from the banks after the government demonetized its currency.
According to the Prime Minister, this initiative was a move by the government to bolster its economy from the negative effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
Local banks were instructed to immediately begin issuing new notes, which are also touted to have greater longevity than the old ones. About 3.7 billion birrs ($101.2 million) was spent to print the new currency,
Prior to this new development, Ethiopia never had a symbol to represent the country’s currency, a new symbol has been designed and will be soon unveiled to symbolize the Birr.”
Ahmed also spoke about the steps the government had taken since the beginning of his tenure in 2018 which includes lowering Ethiopia’s sovereign debt from 35 per cent to 25 per cent of its GDP.
