With rising inflation, Argentina will start printing 10,000-peso banknotes

(Patria) - Prices in Argentina have risen so dramatically in recent months that the government has multiplied the size of its largest banknote in circulation by five to 10,000 pesos, worth about 10 dollars.

The central bank's statement on Tuesday promised to ease the burden on many Argentines who have to carry huge bags, occasionally even suitcases, filled with cash for simple transactions. Argentina's annual inflation rate reached 287% in March, among the highest in the world, AP reported.

The new banknote, five times larger than the previous largest denomination, is expected to hit the streets next month in an attempt to "facilitate transactions between users," the central bank said. The 10,000-peso note is worth 11 dollars at the country's official exchange rate and 9 dollars at the black market rate.

Across Argentina, the ubiquitous 1,000-peso note remains the most popular means of payment. When it was first printed in 2017, the 1,000-peso note was worth 58 dollars on the black market. Now, it is worth only one dollar.

Given the instability caused by Argentina's worst financial crisis in two decades, sellers prefer cash payments for large purchases and offer large discounts to encourage payment in paper notes over electronic transfers.

Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei, who took office last December, campaigned on a promise to tame inflation and stabilize the currency by reversing the policies of past left-wing governments that printed money to finance public spending. But his sharp austerity measures have raised prices to levels in the US and Europe, increasing the economic problems of ordinary Argentines. A nationwide strike, the latest in a series of protests, is planned for tomorrow.

Although annual inflation remains high, Milei cites a gradual slowdown in Argentina's monthly inflation rate since last December and insists his plan is working. Confident that consumer prices can continue to fall, policymakers cut the central bank's key interest rate three times last month.

The new 10,000-peso notes feature small artistic portraits of Manuel Belgrano, a founding father of Argentina, and Maria Remedios del Valle, a black Argentine and military captain who gained fame fighting in the country's war of independence. Argentina's central bank said it will introduce an even larger banknote later this year - a 20,000-peso note.