President Paul Kagame chaired a Cabinet meeting on Friday evening, November 28, where key decisions on the country’s economy and currency management were taken.
Among the resolutions was the approval of a presidential order to withdraw old banknotes, including the 500 Frw, 1,000 Frw, 2,000 Frw, and 5,000 Frw notes.
These include 500 Frw notes issued in 2004 and 2013, 1,000 Frw notes from 2004 and 2015, 2,000 Frw notes from 2007, and 5,000 Frw notes from 2004 and 2009.
The Cabinet decided that these old notes will no longer be legal tender in the country after 12 months, at which point they will have lost their monetary value.
Typically, reasons for replacing or withdrawing banknotes include technological upgrades, a desire to use more advanced currency features, or the fact that notes have aged or become easily counterfeitable.
All withdrawn or old banknotes are collected by the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), verified for authenticity, counted, and destroyed, marking the end of their circulation.
The National Bank of Rwanda also encourages citizens to handle banknotes responsibly, noting that printing money is expensive for the government and emphasizing the promotion of a “cashless economy.”
