2017-11-08 Wed

Malawi would be introducing a K5,000 banknote so that people wouldn’t have to carry large quantities of banknotes with them, for daily transactions. Generally, when high denomination banknote is released, there is an assumption that it would lead to inflation. Government officials clarified that this wouldn’t happen when new K5,000 banknotes are released in Malawi.

It costs eight million dollars for ordering the new bank notes. Officials also stated that Malawi is one of the few countries in the SADC Region which has the lower banknote denomination. Its neighbouring country Tanzania circulates a 10,000-shilling banknote while Uganda issues even higher denomination notes. Officials said that if Malawi continues using smaller denomination notes, billions will have to be spent for replacement of old money. The biggest banknote in circulation is K2,000 currently.