The new 200 kwanza banknote is the first to enter into circulation this Thursday and then the 500 kwanza, 1000 kwanza, 2,000 kwanza and 5000 kwanza banknotes will progressively follow until January 2021.
Blue, brown, pink, green and lilac, from the smallest to the largest facial value, are the colors that respectively predominate in the new notes of the “2020 kwanza family”, whose main figure is the effigy of the first President, António Agostinho Neto .
Changes in product prices and worsening socio-economic difficulties in the country “already complicated by the covid-19” constitute fears of citizens heard by Lusa, in Luanda, who say they are informed about the new kwanza's entry into the market.
Isabel Viviana, a civil servant, criticizes the entry into circulation of the new kwanza, considering that the process should "complicate the country's already difficult social and economic situation".
“I do not think it is good [the entry of the new kwanza] and I think it will still complicate the situation, because we are going through a very difficult phase and at that stage it would not be good to change our kwanza. There are no advantages, ”he told Lusa today.
For Viviana, the post-covid-19 period “would be ideal” for the circulation of new notes.
According to Bonifácio Tinta, although the authorities justify that only Agostinho Neto's face appears in the new notes as “homage to his figure”, the absence of José Eduardo dos Santos's image constitutes “surprise” because “he was already a habitual figure”.
The human resources manager also considered that the currency exchange does not come at a more correct moment, mainly due to the covid-19, admitting implications for the prices of the products.
"We can see that we are in a period in which inflation is very high and these new notes can somehow influence the market," he noted.
Nelson Paulino, moto-taxi driver, who said he had already had contact with the 200 kwanza banknote, was surprised by the color and size of the banknote, made of polymer material (plastic), saying he noticed some fear when he intended to change the money.
The young man, who praised the figure of Agostinho Neto, said, however, that currency exchange "is not a priority at this stage", asking "to God" so that they "do not further inflate market prices".
"Things are already complicated, the prices, and with those notes I don't know how it will be, just God," he said.
Fears about rising prices were also expressed by Xavier Sapalo, who defends "better explanation" about the absence of José Eduardo dos Santos in the new kwanza, whose period for its introduction said "not being ideal".
"I think it will have implications for prices, but the Government will know what its prospects are", stressed the unemployed young man.
The civil servant Wilson Carvalho, who claims that the new kwanza notes are “beneficial” for the country because of their “durability”, applauded the departure of the figure of the previous President “because only legends have to exist in the country's history” , he argued.
According to the National Bank of Angola (BNA), the new banknotes of the kwanza contain “innovative security elements that prevent counterfeiting, have greater durability and show levels of less wear and deterioration”.
Angola spent about US $ 30 million on the production of the new kwanza banknotes "Series 2020", made by two European companies and one North American.
