Sky-High Inflation Forces Argentina to Circulate First 10,000-Peso Notes

New bills worth $11 aim to help population avoid having to carry bricks of cash

by Ciara Nugent
FT

Argentina’s central bank has put the country’s first 10,000 peso notes into circulation, in a long-awaited step to streamline the nation’s cumbersome use of large heaps of cash following the collapse of their currency.

The new notes, worth $11 at the country’s official exchange rate, are five times more valuable than the previous largest note, of 2,000 pesos — which began circulating last year and remains relatively rare — and 10 times more valuable than the more common 1,000-peso note.

Cash payments remain popular in Argentina, where many retailers prefer to receive funds immediately amid chronic economic instability, and others operate off the books. Residents are forced to carry large wads of bills to make small payments, and backpacks of them to make larger ones.

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