South and North Sudanese Get New Currency [PHOTOS]

The conflict between Sudan and South Sudan has taken many forms. A week after South Sudan declared its independence, the country introduced a new currency on Monday, prompting an immediate response from Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir said on Monday that Sudan will introduce a new currency as well this month, part of an economic austerity plan.

The package of the economic measures includes issuing a new currency in the coming days, Bashir said.

The Sudanese finance ministry showed a preliminary design of the new bank notes at a press conference.

In South Sudan, the new currency will replace the Sudanese Pound, which itself is getting a modification. Plane-loads of cash arrived in the capital of Juba last week, and the new bills are now entering into circulation.

The bills come in denominations of one, five, 10, 25, 50 and 100-pound notes. The currency is being printed by the British company De La Ru.

The monetary transition will take about three months to complete. The exchange rate to the Sudan Pound has been set at one-to-one. The dollar-to-pound exchange rate is slightly under three-to-one.

The new South Sudanese currency features the image of the late Dr. John Garang, the rebel leader who led South Sudan in the civil war that tore apart greater Sudan for decades. Garang served as the unofficial president of South Sudan from January to July 2005. He died in a helicopter crash on July 30, 2005.