BANK OFFICIAL PRESENTS NEW VENEZUELAN BANK NOTE, 1998-11-20 (photo)

A Venezuelan Central Bank official presents the new 10,000 bolivar note in Caracas November 19. The new note, worth about $17.50, becomes the largest denomination bill in circulation. Venezuela has been forced to print increasingly higher denomination bills in recent years due to currency devaluations and the highest inflation rate in Latin America. Annual inflation has not dropped below 30 percent in the past decade and is set to end 1998 around 32 percent. Like nearly all Venezuelan bank notes, it carries a drawing of the country's most famous son - South American independence hero Simon Bolivar. PH/SV/WS