2017-12-14 Thu

Malawi replaces torn and dirty banknotes by spending several million US dollars each year. This is because people throw money as a sign of good luck during weddings and other social events. These banknotes are stepped on and get soiled or torn over a period of time, making them unusable. Officials have stated that 12 to 13 billion Malawi kwacha or $17 million has been spent to destroy old notes and replace them with new ones every year.

People, on the other hand, are complaining that the banknotes are not durable enough. Others think that it would be almost impossible to stop people from performing these traditional rituals. All they can do is inform people about the ill-effects of this tradition.

The Central Bank of Malawi is running a campaign worth 500 million kwacha to educate people about these problems. They will request people to take better care of banknotes. They also have plans to prosecute culprits from 2018.