Zimbabwe has launched its own money for the first time since the country's dollar was abandoned seven years ago amid rampant inflation.

The bond note, which is worth one US dollar - the country's main currency since 2009 - is raising fears of a return to the ill-fated local dollar.

The move, first announced in May, has fuelled some of the biggest protests in a decade against President Mugabe.

The government has issued the bond note to tackle a worsening cash shortage.

It hopes the cash substitute, which is legal tender in Zimbabwe but is not valid outside the country, will halt the flow of US dollars going overseas.

Initially, an amount worth $10m is being introduced into circulation in two and five dollar denominations.

Business groups have welcomed the move as a way of boosting economic growth.

However, major opposition parties, workers and civil society groups are planning further protests this week.

And in the run-up to the notes' release, Zimbabweans queued for hours to withdraw their US dollars amid fears the bond notes would not be able to keep parity.

Zimbabwe's central bank has assured people the notes' release will be controlled, including weekly withdrawal limits of $150 worth.

Under a proposed law, anyone found guilty of defacing the notes could face up to seven years in prison.

They will become one of nine currencies accepted as legal tender in the country.

Zimbabwe's 2008-9 hyperinflation crisis in numbers

An egg cost 50 billion Zimbabwean dollars in 2008

A loaf of bread cost the same as 12 brand new cars would have cost ten years previously

Inflation rates reached 231,000,000%

To keep up with the rising prices, a 100 trillion dollar note was issued - enough for a weekly bus ticket - before the Zimbabwean dollar was scrapped in 2009