RBA exports water-resistant bank notes to floodprone Bangladesh
 

AAP Information Services Pty Ltd
Source: Australian Associated Press

By Rebecca Thurlow
15.12.00

Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiary Note Printing Australia (NPA) is selling its locally designed plastic banknotes and the associated technology to flood-prone Bangladesh. The issue of the first batch of the notes yesterday was greeted with long queues for the water resistant notes in the capital of the world's eighth largest country where high temperatures and humidity cause rapid deterioration of the traditional paper currency, NPA said. The Asian nation, with a population of 140 million, is the most recent in a string of countries that have bought notes made by NPA using the Australian-developed polymer technology. NPA chief executive John Leckenby would not disclose the value of the contract with Bangladesh Bank but said exports of polymer notes brought more than $10 million a year to Australia. NPA has already sold the polymer banknotes to Papua New Guinea, where the local currency has to withstand the tradition of storing the notes by burying them in the ground, as well as to New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Western Samoa and Kuwait. More recently, Romania became the first country in Europe to make the decision to change over some of their denominations.

Bangladesh, which ysterday introduced the first batch of 10 Taka notes made by NPA, is the first large country in South Asia to make the switch. "It's the first country in South Asia, other than Sri Lanka who introduced a note some years back, to make the change, so it's important strategically for us in the region," Mr Leckenby said. Initially, Bangladesh Bank and commercial banks will issue 50 million of 10 Taka notes to assess the experience and acceptability of the high-tech banknote. Mr Leckenby said the issue of the first batch of notes was well received by the local population. "They launched it at the central bank in Dhaka and they had queues of people wanting to get their hands on the first issue of notes," he said. "It floods quite a lot and it's a very harsh environment and that was the main driver for making the change. "They were looking for notes that would not only last longer but be cleaner and easier to handle by the people." Mr Leckenby said Bangladesh Bank had also bought the design and technology to equip its own printworks to progressively produce the remaining denominations.

Australia is the only country exporting finished polymer notes, which boast superior cost effectiveness, durability, cleanliness and security. With their protective overcoat, the polymer notes are impervious to moisture and resist water, sweat, oils and other contaminants. The polymer notes are also more hygienic than paper as they do not carry as much bacteria as the traditional paper banknotes. They resist damage if they are accidentally washed or caught in a flood. NPA said the Australian $5 polymer note has a life of 40 months compared to six months for the paper note it replaced. NPA is pushing to increase its market share in south and central America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Asian region. "We've invested quite a lot to try and get the message across to the whole range of countries around the world," he said. "It's a pretty tall order for small Australian operation to try and do that, but there is a lot of interest, which is very encouraging." There was a lot of interest throughout south and central America where Brazil, seen as a leader in the region, had recently purchased the technology. He said there was enormous potential for growth in exports of the banknotes worldwide. "Despite our success of recent years we still represent only about one per of the world's annual volume of notes produced so there's still a lot of opportunity out there for us," he said. Australia's switch to polymer notes between 1992 and 1996 freed up capacity in the at the NPA printworks because of the longer life of the new notes, allowing production for export.