The Bank of México has announced that the scheduled release of the new 100-peso note in the second half of this year will go ahead as planned, despite the socioeconomic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Those who were dismayed to see the face of feminist poet and nun Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz leave the new 200-peso note that was put into circulation last September will be happy to hear that she will now grace one side of the new 100-peso bill.

The reverse will feature monarch butterflies swarming in the forests of central Mexico.

Some media reports claimed the announcement was well received by a public wary of using cash out of fear of spreading Covid-19, but Banxico’s Alejandro Alegre told the newspaper El Universal that proper hygiene, rather than payment method, is what will help curb the spread of the virus when shopping.

He reminded people to follow the World Health Organization’s recommendations to wash the hands thoroughly after touching any surface, bills and coins included, because all are potential carriers of Covid-19.

He said that anyone is at risk “upon being exposed to any type of surface, including credit and debit cards and the point-of-sale terminals … all surfaces, like the keys to the car or house.”

Banxico announced in February that the new 50-peso bill — which will feature the species of salamander endemic to Mexico City’s Lake Xochimilco and called axolotl — will be put into circulation in 2022.

The new 500-peso note, changed from brown to blue and adorned with the face of 19th-century president Benito Juárez, was released in August.

Other plans to update the country’s cash include a phasing out of the 20-peso note and replacing it with a coin.

Source: El Imparcial (sp)