In an effort to ease the burden of inflation and devaluation, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) has introduced a new 10,000 peso bill. This note is now the maximum denomination in the Argentine monetary system, which until now worked mainly with 1,000 peso and 2,000 peso notes.
Over the past year, Argentina has experienced an inflation rate of 287 percent, significantly devaluing existing banknotes. In addition, the previous government did not issue higher denomination bills to avoid recognizing inflation. This has made normal cash transactions cumbersome, as it requires the use of hundreds of bills. However, the increasing use of virtual payments through electronic wallets and credit cards has helped ease this burden.
The new 10,000 peso bill features the images of Manuel Belgrano and María Remedios del Valle, historical figures from Argentina’s fight for independence. The government plans to introduce a 20,000 peso bill with the image of Juan Bautista Alberdi, a prominent figure in Argentine liberalism.
The history of the Argentine peso has been marked by constant devaluation, with the currency changing names and losing zeros in successive monetary reforms. The current situation of requiring a large number of banknotes for transactions has led to challenges in the ATM system and banks creating special vaults to accommodate the large volume of physical money.
However, this new move by BCRA is expected to bring relief to those who are tired of dealing with cumbersome cash transactions that require multiple bills. With this new bill’s introduction as part of BCRA’s efforts to address inflationary pressures on its economy and improve everyday financial convenience for citizens.
