Venezuela Will Release Even Bigger Bills to Help Shrink Wallets
- New 500 and 5,000 bolivar bills will arrive in December
- Highest denomination note currently worth a few U.S. cents
Stacks of banknotes sit on a desk inside the office of a bakery in Caracas Oct. 16, 2016.
Photographer: Manaure Quintero/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
After years of soaring prices reduced the value of the largest 100-bolivar bill to just a few U.S. cents, Venezuelan authorities are finally preparing to issue larger-denomination bank notes, much to the relief of shoppers.
The notes -- 500 and 5,000 bolivars -- will be released toward the middle of next month, said a senior government official who isn’t authorized to talk about the plans publicly. Additional bills of 1,000, 2,000, 10,000 and 20,000 bolivars will enter circulation in the first half, the official said.