Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro again delayed a plan to pull the country's 100-Venezuelan-bolivar notes from circulation to Jan. 20, 2017, after the proposal triggered countrywide protests and social unrest, Reuters reported.

The president had earlier delayed the plan to Jan. 2, 2017, from around mid-December.

The government has said it will bring new higher-denomination bank notes ranging from 500 bolivars to 20,000 bolivars into circulation in order to better cope with triple-digit inflation, but local traders and consumers say that has not yet happened, the newswire reported.

Maduro on Dec. 29 said a shipment of the new notes had arrived in the country, but their delivery had been delayed due to sabotage by his opponents.