New K20 notes out

By FRANK ASAELI
PAPUA New Guinea’s central bank continues to issue quality bank notes to combat counterfeiting.
Such notes, particularly a new series of K20 notes, were launched last Friday by the Bank of Papua New Guinea at the Parliament House.
The main design elements on the front of the new K20 bank notes were the Parliament House and the National Crest of PNG, which was a stylised Bird of Paradise sitting on a Kundu (drum) and a spear; on the back depicts a head of a boar, a toea arm band from Central province and traditional necklace.
The notes will be circulated first in Port Moresby this week.
Polymer notes were being printed by Note Printing Australia.
BPNG Governor Wilson Kamit stressed that BPNG needs to provide currency that enhances modern security features that act against counterfeiting.
“In keeping with developments in global bank notes security printing, PNG became the second country outside of Australia to move into using polymer – the plastic banks notes.
The country’s first plastic notes came in 1991 with the introduction of the Commonwealth commemorative South Pacific games K2 bank notes.
He said this was the first major shift in BPNG’s quest to identify a cost-efficient solution to cash handling.
Mr Kamit noted the polymer notes were more durable and lasted longer.
Bank notes in paper form could only last for at least four months from introduction to public before it is withdrawn from circulation for destruction.
Mr Kamit said polymer notes could last for up to 14 to 15 months.
“That is an added value of handling the bank notes,” he said.