The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will soon release its new-generation Zimbabwe dollar banknotes and coins as part of measures to meet transactional demand for both locals and tourists.

The RBZ says new notes and coins, which comprise Z$5 notes and Z$2 coins, will be in circulation within two weeks. The new notes and coins will circulate alongside the coins and notes currently in use and will have the same value. The central bank could not disclose the features on the new notes and coins.

The exchange rate at the time of publishing was €1:Z$400.

The money will be introduced gradually to avoid driving up inflation.

“We thought of being conservative (in introducing low denomination notes and coins) and we will graduate with time,” commented the RBZ.

Zambezi Helicopter Company Executive, Warren Ncube, said the new notes and coins would ease the way people did business and accessed goods and services. Tourists will now be able to access cash when they want to change their forex.

The company said it hoped that the introduction of the new notes and coins wouldbe strengthened by policies to ensure that price distortions and inflation were arrested.

Another tourism player based in Victoria Falls said the introduction of new bank notes would increase liquidity and thereby ultimately benefit the tourism sector.

“International tourists do not want to register with EcoCash, a mobile money platform, or other platforms, but would perhaps opt for bureaux de change, which are less cumbersome and would now have the cash. We are likely to see more spending by tourists, both local and domestic, as there will now be availability of cash,” he says.

The RBZ reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar in June, ending a decade of using the US dollar.