Argentina to Issue 200 and 500 Peso Banknotes

[Bimat]

Central Bank to issue 200, 500-peso notes

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Monetary authority will begin printing bills this year while 1,000-peso note will come in 2017

Argentina will break a 24-year streak in which the 100-peso note has been the largest denomination for the local currency. The Central Bank said yesterday that in the first half of the year, 200 and 500-peso banknotes will begin to be printed, followed by a 1,000-peso note in 2017.

The move comes after years in which former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's administration pushed back against calls for higher-denomination bills.

The refusal to print higher-denomination notes came as the peso steadily lost value over the past decade. While the 100-peso note was worth US$34 in 2003, it is now worht a paltry US$7.2.

"Issuing larger notes is a practical necessity for the better functioning of the ATMs and to lower the cost of moving cash.

Nevertheless, the Central Bank will encourage the use of electronic means of payment and will move forward on that direction in the near future," the monetary authority said in a press release.

Alongside issuing larger bills, the Central Bank will print new series of the 20, 50 and 100 pesos notes, which will be available starting next year. They will co-exist with the old notes for some time, the monetary authority said. A 5-peso and 10-peso coin will also be minted next year, followed by new coins of one and two pesos.

Animals illustrate all the new notes, a stark move from the tradition of putting historic figures on the bills, a decision that avoids any potential conflicts over which politician or national idol to represent. Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio had previously said he would have liked to include former president Arturo Frondizi in a note.

The southern right whale was the animal chosen to illustrate the 200-peso note, representing the region of the Argentine Sea and the Antartica. Meanwhile, the 500-peso note will feature the Yaguareté, a type of jaguar, to represent the North-East region. The 1,000-peso note — to be available next year — will include the Hornero, the national bird, representing the central provinces.

"With this new family of notes, the Central Bank wants to highlight nature's generosity to Argentina and highlight the importance of looking after and encouraging the biodiversity," the monetary authority said. "By electing fauna from different regions, the Central Bank wants all Argentines to feel represented."

Despite bills from opposition parties asking for larger notes last year, Central Bank head Federico Sturzenegger had actually suggested before taking office to eliminate the 100-peso note and not replace it with a larger one. He had backed CFK's decision not to print larger notes as a way to encourage the use of electronic means of payment

"I would eliminate the 100-peso note and not replace it, leaving only coins and removing all notes would be ideal. CFK has done everything wrong regarding monetary policy with the exception of the decision to not print larger bills," he said in April last year. "Printing larger bills would mean taking a step in the wrong direction as it would encourage the informal economy."

Nevertheless, during his speech when taking office, he anticipated he would seek to issue larger notes as "the country had the same ones for too many years even though prices have multiplied more than 10 times."

No to larger notes

While rejecting to issue larger bills, CFK issued new series to renovate the current bills during her administration. A 100-peso note with the image of Eva Perón was printed as well as a 50-pesos note that features the Malvinas Islands and a five-peso note with the image of national hero General José de San Martín.

Former Economy minister Axel Kicillof had long rejected the idea to print larger notes, claming it wasn't necessary as notes were becoming obsolete due to the expansion of electronic commerce.

"We have moved forward a lot in expanding the use of banks, electronic trading and all means of payment that aren't with notes, which is becoming obsolete," he said last year. "The largest note in the United States is US$100, which is in line with the one we have in Argentina."

Former Central Bank head Alejandro Vanoli had agreed with Kicillof and also said the solution wasn't to print more bills but rather to expand electronic means of payment.

"Leading countries are moving to a system that uses more and more the electronic means of payment to make transactions easier. The future points to the disappearance of the notes so the solution isn't to print more. We'll work toward lowering the use of notes," he said last year.

The rejection of larger bill was probably set to change after the elections and no matter who won, as even former Banco Provincia head and one of presidential candidate Daniel Scioli's key economic adviser Gustavo Marangoni had agreed during the campaign that the country needed to print larger-denomination bills.

"It's a technical need to make people's lives easier. We need larger notes," he said last year.

Source: Buenos Aires Herald

[Bimat]

Argentina new bills: Evita and Malvinas out, replaced by Andean deer and condor

Monday, January 18th 2016 - 08:36 UTC

The two bills were the initiative of ex-president Cristina Fernandez' administration and were clearly political: the 100 Peso bill had the image of Evita Peron, an icon for many millions of Argentines, and also the ongoing reference for Cristina. It will be replaced by the image of a Taruca or Andean deer.

The Malvinas landscape and the notorious fugitive Gaucho Rivero, were part of Cristina Fernandez very active and aggressive campaign on the disputed South Atlantic islands. The mighty condor will be now the image of the new 50 Pesos bill.

According to the Argentine central bank, "Issuing larger notes is a practical necessity for the better functioning of the ATMs and to lower the cost of moving cash. Nevertheless, the Central Bank will encourage the use of electronic means of payment and will move forward on that direction in the near future," the monetary authority said in a press release.

Alongside issuing larger bills, the Central Bank will print new series of the 20, 50 and 100 pesos notes, which will be available starting next year. They will co-exist with the old notes for some time, the monetary authority said. A 5-peso and 10-peso coin will also be minted next year, followed by new coins of one and two pesos.

Argentina will also be breaking a 24-year streak in which the 100-Peso note has been the largest denomination for the local currency. The new bills that should be ready in the first half of the year, 200 and 500-peso banknotes will begin to be printed, followed by a 1,000-peso note in 2017.

The move comes after years in which former president Cristina Fernández' administration pushed back against calls for higher-denomination bills. The refusal to print higher-denomination notes came as the peso steadily lost value over the past decade. While the 100-peso note was worth US$34 in 2003, it is now worth a paltry US$7.2.

The southern right whale was the animal chosen to illustrate the 200-Peso note, representing the region of the South Atlantic and Antarctica. Meanwhile, the 500-Peso note will feature the Yaguareté, a type of jaguar, to represent the North-East region. The 1,000-Peso note — to be available next year — will include the Hornero (or 'oven' bird), the national bird, representing the central provinces.

"With this new family of notes, the Central Bank wants to highlight nature's generosity to Argentina and highlight the importance of looking after and encouraging the biodiversity," the monetary authority said. "By electing fauna from different regions, the Central Bank wants all Argentines to feel represented."

When the news broke out, Alejandro Vanoli, the former central bank governor, from ex president Cristina Fernandez administration revealed that the bank had plans to print new 200-Peo and 500-Peso bills, and the images would be former presidents Hipolito Yrigoyen and Juan Domingo Perón. Two references of Argentina's main political forces, the Radical party and the Justicialista or Peronist movement.

Source: Merco Press

[augsburger]

I hope the deer one doesn't look exactly like that, it looks like a fish, especially with that plant behind it.

[SandyGuyUK]

Re-reading it, they appear to have swapped the animals appearing on the notes and the "fishy" looking creature is indeed a whale! :-)

[augsburger]

That's good that it's actually a whale, but it also looks like it has deer ears, or are they supposed to be fins or something?

[SandyGuyUK]

I think so - looking at pictures on Google.  It's just the positioning of them that makes them look a bit strange! :-)

[Bimat]

The 200 Peso banknote was issued yesterday (October 26).

Press Release

Aditya

[Bimat]

Central Bank of Argentina will issue new 20, 50, 100 and 1000 Peso banknotes in 2017, which completes the new series of banknotes.

Image Source

Aditya

[Bimat]

The new 1000 Peso note was introduced on December 1^st. 50 and 100 Peso notes will be issued next year, which complete the new series of banknotes.

Aditya