South Sudan announced on Monday it will use a new currency that features the image of the deceased founder of the nation's liberation struggle.

South Sudan became an independent country last Saturday, breaking away from Sudan after more than 50 years of on-and-off war.

The country's finance minister, David Deng Athorbie, said the new currency would be called the South Sudan pound and will replace the Sudan pound currently in use.

The currency is scheduled to arrive by cargo plane beginning on Wednesday and will go into circulation next Monday. It will have a one-to-one value with the Sudan pound.

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