B’dos will have new banknotes from Monday

New banknotes will go into circulation in Barbados next week on Monday and will boast of having new designs made of polymer.

The notes according to the Central Bank will last longer in circulation and will be harder to counterfeit.

Octavia Gibson, Director of Currency and Payments Oversight at the Central Bank of Barbados says the notes from the new series will be issued to commercial banks, who will then make them available to their customers.

“Members of the public will not be able to come directly to the Central Bank to get the new notes,” she added.

As for the older notes still in circulation, Gibson confirmed that Barbadians would still be able to use them, anticipating that the older ones will phase out of circulation

“As we switch from paper banknotes to polymer ones, the old notes will remain legal tender and can continue to be spent. Businesses should therefore continue to accept them,” she stated.

In April, the Central Bank first announced that it would be changing the design of the banknotes, prompting the organization to embark on an educational drive to prepare the public for the imminent change,