New currency in Somalia postponed
A story from war torn Somalia today. The Somali federal government announced that it would postpone the introduction of new Somali Shilling. These banknotes were printed in Sudan and were ordered by the previous Transitional Federal Government. The introduction has been postponed to "a later date".
This probably has something to do with the lack of centralized financial institutions in Somalia which has been plagued by civil war and unrest for so many years. Currently the only Somali currency in use is the 1000 Shilling note first issued in 1990 and as a second issue in 1996. Somaliland and Puntland, which are autonomous parts of Somalia, have introduced or tried to introduce new banknotes but the central government hasn't. For many years you couldn't even speak of a central government. The Somaliland currency is not internationally recognized (though the region is recognized as an autonomous region). Puntland announced last year it would introduce its own currency but hasn't yet. The lack in Somali currency even prompted local warlords and businessmen to print their own currency. The US dollar is also widely used in Somalia.
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