Central Bank of Swaziland to introduce new banknotes

MBABANE – The country will have new banknotes by August this year, as the Central Bank of Swaziland (CBS) is upgrading the entire series of banknotes.

The banknotes available locally are E10, E20, E50, E100 and E200.
The CBS will roll out the banknotes in intervals, starting with the E100 note.
“The Central Bank of Swaziland has initiated a project to upgrade its entire series of banknotes in view of the fact that the existing portrait shown of His Majesty King Mswati III is outdated. Also banknote durability and security technology has advanced significantly since the issuing of the current series of notes in 1999,”  Governor, Martin Dlamini said in a press statement.

He disclosed that new notes are expected to be released in July or August 2010, at intervals of six months.
Dlamini also revealed that the bank was working with its ‘long standing’ currency printers Giesecke and Devrient (G&D) based in Germany for the project.
He said this followed a tender selection process that involved five carefully selected banknote suppliers.
The governor said the selection was based on, among other criterion, price, durability of the notes and performance in circulation.

“The Central Bank of Swaziland takes pride in its responsibility to provide high quality banknotes and ensuring public confidence in our money by minimising counterfeiting. We have spared no effort in making the new series of notes as durable and as secure as possible,” he said.

In order to get the public acquainted with the security features that are incorporated into the new Emalangeni banknote series, the CBS said it would produce a variety of information and educational material, ‘explaining the functionality of the features in detail’.
Such material, which will include posters and flyers, would be laid out openly for public disposal at all main public institutions such as banks, police stations, post offices, hospitals, clinics and Tinkhundla centres, the governor said.

“I would like to ask all our citizens to familiarise themselves with the new currency and the security features when they are released, so that they can gain trust in the authenticity of the new Emalangeni banknotes,” he said.  Meanwhile, the country will continue using the existing coins, as no changes are expected from the CBS in that regard.

Chairman of the Swaziland Bankers Association Ambrose Dlamini welcomed the new development.
He said they had been informed by the CBS of the changes to take place regarding the new banknotes.
“We are aware of the changes that will be taking place soon. In fact, the CBS always engages us if there are any changes that it intends introducing.

With this project, the industry was properly and formally notified even before it started and we have been getting updates,” he said.
Dlamini continued; “We fully support the initiative; from an industry perspective, it is a norm for central banks to introduce changes in the currency from time to time, either overhauling the currency or just changing some features.”

He said they were particularly supportive of the development, mainly because it would seek to enhance security features of the local currency.
“This will address issues of counterfeiting in that it will be more difficult for fraudsters to fake the new currency, which will greatly help the banking industry,” he said.

The major currency overhaul on banknotes was done in 1999 but recently, the bank issued commemorative E100 and E200 notes for the 40/40 Double Celebrations in 2008, which are still in circulation in the economy.  As all monies in circulation locally are deposited with the CBS, the old currency is expected to be phased out gradually.