The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has supplied Bahrain’s retail banks with BD29.6 million in new Bahrain banknotes, which have come into circulation today.

The new banknotes are now being issued daily by the CBB in the denominations of BD20, BD10, BD5, BD1 and BD1/2. There is no change to the coins in circulation.

Distribution of the new banknotes to Bahrain’s retail banks began on March 13, to enable banks to prepare for the release of the new banknotes.

Until the end of the business day today, the CBB had released about BD29.6 million to Bahrain’s retail banks. The release has comprised BD20 million in BD20 banknotes; BD6.5 million in BD10 notes; BD1.6 million in BD5 notes; BD900,000 in BD1 notes; and BD575,000 in BD1/2 notes, said Farid Zubari, director, currency issue, at the CBB.

The new banknotes and the previously-issued banknotes will co-circulate for a period of time, to allow for all previously-issued banknotes to be returned to the CBB in the normal course of business.

From today, the CBB will supply only new banknotes to Bahrain’s retail banks. All returning previously-issued banknotes will be replaced with the new ones.

“We expect this process to take at least one year, after which the previously-issued banknotes will remain redeemable at the CBB for at least a further year,” said Zubari.

The new family of Bahrain banknotes feature brand new designs as well as new and improved security features. – TradeArabia News Service