HARARE, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe RBZ) will, with effect from Monday, introduce a 50, 000 Zimbabwe dollar note as part of measures to bring convenience to the banking public ahead of the festive season, The Herald reported on Saturday.

    The central bank also raised the maximum withdrawal limit for individuals from 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars to 50,000 Zimbabwe dollars per day while that for companies remains at 10,000 Zimbabwe dollars daily.

    It is very difficult to measure the equivalents of Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. dollar now, but a newspaper is sold at 3,000 to 7,000 Zimbabwe dollars.

    RBZ Governor Gideon Gono made the announcement in a statement on Friday, the newspaper said."With effect from Monday, the 13th of October, 2008, the cash withdrawal limit for individuals has been more than doubled from the current Z$20,000 per day to Z$50,000 per day," the statement said.

    However, the withdrawal limit for companies remains at the current level of 10,000 Zimbabwe dollars per day as a way of encouraging companies to use alternative non-cash means of payment such as cheques and various forms of plastic money.

    The RBZ said efforts would continue to be made to ensure that the general public would not be inconvenienced in accessing their money from banks during the festive season.

    Gono also stressed that companies should fully use the cheque window where clearing has been improved through the introduction of two clearing sessions per day.

    The central bank called on banking institutions to bolster their capital levels to protect themselves from possible contagion effects of the current global financial meltdown.

    "Our financial sector is in a healthy, solid condition and isexpected to ride the current harsh tide. Stakeholders will recall that well ahead of time, we called upon our banking institutions to beef up their capital levels in readiness for adverse eventualities such as the ongoing global financial meltdown."

    "It is pleasing to note that our banking sector took heed and hence their current state of strength," he said.

    Gono welcomed the decision by the United States central bank to introduce quasi-fiscal operations, including direct central bank loans to the private sector, in an effort to revive the U.S. productive systems.

    The cash situation in Harare has improved at most commercial banks following the restrictions imposed on RTGS transactions by the RBZ last week and the introduction of 20,000 Zimbabwe dollar and 10,000 Zimbabwe dollar notes.