Venezuela replacing largest bill with coins with inflation at about 2000%

The Venezuelan government has announced it will replace the country’s highest-denomination banknotes with coins within 72 hours. It hopes swapping the 100-bolivar notes will help to stop smuggling and tackle shortages of food and other items.

The 100-bolivar note has lost most of its value over the past few years and is now worth about 2 US cents (£0.015).

The government last published figures for inflation in December 2015, putting it at 180%, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that next year’s prices will rise by more than 2,000%.

India recently scrapped 500 ($7.6) and 1,000 rupee notes to crack down on corruption