HARARE , Zimbabwe ( CNN ) -- Cash-strapped Zimbabwe revealed plans Saturday to circulate $ 200 million notes , just days after introducing a $ 100 million bill , Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said . Zimbabwe central bank governor Gideon Gono shows a new $ 50 million note Thursday . After the $ 100 million note began circulating on Thursday , the price of a loaf of bread soared from 2 million to 35 million Zimbabwean dollars . Amid allegations of illegal foreign currency trading , the government also fired top executives at four major banks Thursday , according to The Herald , a state-owned newspaper . Many anxious residents of the nation 's capital , Harare , have been sleeping outside banks , waiting for them to open so they can make withdrawals before the institutions run out of cash . Watch how Zimbabwe 's children are suffering » . The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had capped maximum daily withdrawals at 500,000 Zimbabwean dollars : about 25 U.S. cents , or about a quarter of Thursday 's price of a loaf of bread . Last week , restrictions on cash withdrawals -- due to severe money shortages -- triggered riots . Sixteen soldiers now face possible court-martial due to alleged looting and assaults on civilians and police during the unrest , police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told The Herald on Saturday . `` We are still investigating the case , '' he said . `` But we expect the soldiers to appear before a court-martial once investigations are completed . '' After spending several days waiting in bank lines , soldiers rampaged through downtown Harare , destroying shops and attacking riot police sent to disperse the protesters . Cash shortages are not the only crisis plaguing Zimbabwe . The United Nations has said that more than half of Zimbabwe 's population is in dire need of food and clean water . Watch how a cholera epidemic is affecting Zimbabweans » . Acute shortages of essentials such as fuel , electricity , medicines and food are key indicators of a failed economy , according to economic observers . `` The [ Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ] is failing to deliver the demands of market , prices are doubling daily , and that demands more cash , '' Zimbabwean economist John Robertson said . `` The huge price increases are resulting from severe shortages of most goods . '' The once-prosperous African nation is facing its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since attaining independence from Great Britain in 1980 . Zimbabwe 's official rate of inflation is 231 million percent , the world 's highest . Critics of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe link hyperinflation to his policies on land distribution and unbudgeted payments to war veterans . Zimbabwe has had no Cabinet since the March presidential election . Its political troubles have aggravated its humanitarian and economic crisis , including a cholera outbreak that has killed close to 600 people since August . A CNN journalist in Harare contributed to this report .
Price of a loaf of bread jumps to 35 million Zimbabwean dollars . Government accuses bank executives of illegal currency trading . Zimbabwe also faces widespread cholera outbreak ; food , power shortages . President Robert Mugabe 's policies blamed for economic collapse .