Venezuela shuts Colombia border to secure banknote switch

Venezuela decided Monday to temporarily close the border with Colombia, as the country prepares to introduce new banknotes and withdraw the 100-bolivar notes from circulation.

"Starting now, the border with Colombia is closed again for 72 hours," President Nicolas Maduro ordered Monday in a televised broadcast.

The introduction of the new banknote is scheduled to officially launch on Tuesday.

In announcing the banknote switch decision on Sunday, Maduro said additional security measures were needed to combat criminal rings along the Venezuela-Colombia border that run illegal currency exchange centers and hoard the 100-bolivar bills as part of an "economic war" against his government.

Venezuela's Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, Nestor Reverol, added on Monday the country would "maintain a security system throughout the national banking network," including "checkpoints around the country."

Due to growing and acute inflation in Venezuela, the 100-bolivar note,currently the country's largest denomination, is worth only about 2 U.S. cents at the widely used black market rate.

According to the Venezuelan News Agency (AVN), Venezuelans can spend their 100-bolivar notes before a Wednesday deadline. After that,Venezuela's Central Bank will allow another 10 days for the exchange and deposit of the old notes only in the bank.

The central bank announced earlier this month that it was releasing six new banknotes and three new coins for the bolivar currency, starting on Dec. 15. The new bills are larger-denominated with face value as high as 20,000 bolivars.

source: Xinhua