The government has announced that $100 notes will continue to be imported from Brazil throughout 2011. It is estimated that between $1bn and $1.2bn is the amount needed to avoid a repetition of recent money shortages.

Over the last two months there has been a drastic shortage of high level currency across the country, leading to long queues at cash points and people being unable to withdraw money from their accounts.

The Argentine government turned to Brazil for assistance in quickly producing $100 bills to counter the problem. The notes which have been printed in Brazil bear some visible differences to those printed in Argentina, but are accepted on an equal basis.

Alongside the help being received from the Brazilian mint, the Argentine government is trying to secure a new printing facility within the country so that it can be self-dependent. Old printing machines are said to be being brought from their neighbours, as the Brazilian printing industry has recently updated their technology and installed new machinery, according to La Nación.

Another scheme introduced to counter the shortage, requires all businesses to offer the option of card payments. This not only reduces the need for hard currency but also counters the thriving black economy by involving more transparent transactions. However, this scheme has suffered from delays in its implementation and is yet to be enforced.

An alternative option put forward by the opposition and economy experts is to introduce a new note of higher value, such as $200. This would be a clear sign of inflation and has been rejected by the government so far.

Looking further forward, both countries would like to be able to provide money printing services to other countries suffering from similar circumstances, a possibly discussed with the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, in her recent visit to Buenos Aires.

Residents of Buenos Aires province and city can expect to pay between 70% and 400% more for their central heating this year in comparison to last winter.

The government has claimed that the increase in prices is an attempt to encourage people to use less gas and electricity, following an incentive begun at the end of 2008. The prices have generally remained constant in the last couple of years, until last year.

In July, there was an average increase of 25% in the capital city. The government claimed that it was necessary because oil companies Edenor, Edesur and Edelap were struggling. Only homes with very low consumption were exempt.

Then, in October, the government announced an incentive to help flailing oil companies, which had finished the year $807m lower than 2007. “This increase that we are seeing today is a result of a government initiative developed last year,” said a spokesman from the Town Planning commission.

Houses in the metropolitan region who paid $107 per 1.001 kWh will this year pay $187 for the same amount of energy. Houses with a higher demand of 1.401 kWh will see an almost $200 increase in the price of central heating.

From a gas point of view, the massive billing overhaul was established after a new agreement was reached between two different gas suppliers, one in Bolivia and one in Bahía Blanca. As supply increases, price soars and these two companies have both increased their gas prices within the last 365 days.

Last November, the incentive was approved with an addition – an extra charge for central heating which would go straight to the Town Planning commission for “future improvements to the city and provinces”.

The combination of increased oil prices and the additional charge imposed by the government has resulted in the astonishing increases in central heating prices for this winter.

For most visitors to the country, the most interesting thing about Argentine banknotes is their ability to drive taxi drivers and shop keepers to apoplexy when trying to change anything larger than a $20 bill. However the faces they portray reveal a colourful journey through the good, the bad and the ugly of Argentina’s early post-independence history.

2 pesos: Bartolomé Mitre – the journalist

Mitre was president of the republic between 1862-68 and is credited with uniting the nation after the divisions of the Juan Manuel de Rosas era. An outspoken critic of Rosas, he spent 15 years in exile from 1837, from where he used his position as a journalist to denounce the regime.

On his return to Argentina he became governor of Buenos Aires province before taking on the top job. In power he reduced the influence of the powerful rural landowners known as caudillos, and oversaw the start of Argentina’s economic development by organising the country’s finances and encouraging large scale immigration from Europe.

His influence lives on today through the famous La Nación newspaper and the Argentine Academy of History, both of which he founded.

5 pesos: José de San Martín – the liberator

The son of a Spanish administrator in the north of the country, San Martín went to Spain at the age of six where he was educated and entered service in the Spanish army, serving in Morocco. After Napoleon’s usurpation of King Ferdinand VII, he worked for the Seville junta before changing sides and joining the patriot struggle in South America. He put this about-turn down to ‘answering the call of his native land’.

He assumed control of the Argentine army and was a leading figure in liberating the nation from Spanish supremacy. His next campaign across the Andes to liberate Chile and Perú was the stuff of legends and is rated amongst the most difficult and daring military expeditions ever attempted. He triumphantly met his fellow icon of the South American independence struggle, Simón Bolívar, at Guayaquil in what is now Ecuador on 26th July 1822.

However he soon withdrew from public life, disillusioned with the scheming and anarchy of the post independence era, living out the rest of his life in exile in Europe, where he died in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1850

10 pesos: Manuel Belgrano – flag waver

Belgrano is best known for two things; for being the designer of Argentina’s sky-blue and white flag, and for having a battle cruiser named after him which was infamously sunk in the Falklands/Malvinas conflict.

What is less well known is that he was commander-in-chief of the Argentine patriot forces in the early days of the independence struggle against Spain. Belgrano had his military baptism in the defence of Buenos Aires against the British invasions of 1806-07.

When the Argentines rose up against Spanish rule in 1810, he joined the ruling junta before leading the army. He notched up famous victories over the Spaniards at Tucumán and Salta. However a series of reverses saw him cede command to San Martín in 1814.

20 pesos: Juan Manuel de Rosas – the dictator

Born into a family of wealthy landowners, Rosas was a politician from the caudillo tradition. Elected governor of Buenos Aires province in 1829, he was a strong opponent of Gen. Juan Lavalle, president of the republic. He espoused federalist ideas which favoured giving greater power to the provinces. He enjoyed the support of landowners and merchants as well as tacit British approval.

He left office in 1832 only to return in 1835 with greatly increased personal power, which he used to rule the province as a dictator, displaying centralist tendencies which belied his federalist pretensions. His feared secret police were used to suppress dissension and Rosas ordered that his portrait be hung in public places, in a display of his personal control.

His involvement in neighbouring Uruguay’s internal affairs led to France blockading the port of Buenos Aires. Rosas was finally removed after his defeat at the Battle of Caseros by Gen. Justo José de Urquiza in 1852. He spent the rest of his life exiled in England, where he died in 1877.

50 pesos: Faustino Domingo Sarmiento – the educator

One of the most revered presidents in Argentina’s history, Sarmiento was the first civilian to be elected to the position, in 1868.

An outspoken critic of Rosas, he was exiled to Chile in 1940. Sarmiento wrote a multitude of books including the influential Facundo, a fierce denunciation of the gaucho caudillo, Facundo Quiroga. Having studied educational methods in Europe and the US, he set great store by developing Argentina’s education system, introducing primary and secondary schooling for a largely illiterate population, which was to be the cornerstone of the country’s future progress.

Sarmiento also encouraged foreign investment into the country, a move which was to help drive Argentina’s growth into an economic powerhouse.

100 pesos: Julio Argentino Roca – the pioneer

Roca is a controversial figure for historians. For some he is the hero of the ‘Indian Wars’ which ended in 1879, responsible for opening up the vast pampas to settlement and economic development. To others he is responsible for the genocide of large swathes of Argentina’s indigenous population. His statue in the centre of Buenos Aires continues to be a focal point for indigenous protest.

At the culmination of his military career he entered politics, becoming president for six years from 1880. With the support of the National Autonomist Party, which was dominant at the time, Roca offered, ‘peace and efficient administration’.

His presidency oversaw a period of economic expansion, leading to inflation due to the oversupply of money in the economy. As British investors got cold feet, a financial crisis ensued which was ultimately to unseat him.

I bet you didn’t know there was such a wealth of history in your pocket!