Venezuelan Bolivar fuerte bank notes could be plastic
 

Daily News

Caracas

13.03.07

The board of directors of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) is considering a number of possibilities to manufacture the banknotes of bolivar fuerte (or strong bolivar, which results from a monetary reform chopping three zeros from the Venezuelan bolivar).

Among such options there is the possibility of leaving paper money behind and make the bills from polymers, a sort of highly-flexible plastic material.

The leader firm in this technology worldwide is Securency - formed in 1996, as a joint venture between the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Australia's central bank, and Belgian multinational UCB. This technology has been adopted in Latin America by Chile, Mexico and Brazil.

Last week, representative of Securency Latinoamérica Paul Martins met with BCV and Venezuelan Mint officials.

Advocates claim that banknotes manufactured with this technology have an average lifespan five times longer than paper money and are much harder to forge.

However, detractors claim that as polymer bills imitate paper money safety, falsification threats have forced manufacturers to introduce new designs. Further, coatings can be removed with solvents and claims on a longer lifespan are still unconfirmed.

As of October 1st, prices of goods and services in Venezuela will be expressed both in Venezuelan bolivars (VEB) and bolivar fuerte (BsF).