Somalia Moves to Restore Trust in Shilling With New Banknotes

GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOGADISHU: Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said on Tuesday the country needs $40 million to complete the launch of new banknotes, a reform backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restore confidence in the Somali shilling and curb counterfeiting.

Hamza said the overall cost of printing and circulating the new notes is estimated at $70 million. Somalia has already secured $30 million in external assistance, but the source of the funds has not been disclosed.

“We are holding constructive talks with the government of Kuwait and hope they will support us,” Hamza said, adding that Mogadishu was determined to avoid new loans for the project.

The IMF has described replacing counterfeit currency as a “national priority” and a cornerstone of economic reform. Together with Somali authorities, it designed a phased plan in 2018 to reintroduce lower-value notes while strengthening financial institutions before moving to larger denominations.

The initiative comes after Somalia’s debt fell sharply under the IMF and World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) programme, dropping from 64% of GDP in 2018 to less than 6% last year. Officials say the debt relief creates fiscal space to pursue the reform without fresh borrowing.

Hamza said launching the new shilling is critical to reducing Somalia’s dependence on U.S. dollars and mobile money platforms, which dominate transactions but leave the economy exposed.