New banknote in circulation
An upgraded K1, 000 banknote, which aims at improving security, started circulating on the market on Monday.
Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Director of Currency Management Joseph Milner said the central bank had already injected K649 million into commercial banks for circulation.
The upgraded bank note has five new security features introduced after the central bank noted that the second highest denomination of the Kwacha was falling victim to fodgers.
The characters include a spark live which is fish shaped that is located in front and changes colour from gold to green when tilted and a watermark.
The watermark is an image embedded inside the banknote. When the note is viewed against direct light, the watermark appears as a portrait of Kamuzu Banda with the number 1,000 below it.
It also has a security thread placed vertically near the centre at the back of the note which changes colour from green to blue once the note is tilted, improved roughness and a holographic foil stripe.
Speaking when announcing plans to unveil the new banknote last year, RBM Governor Wilson Banda was optimistic that it would enhance security of the currency.
“Since its introduction, there have been a number of developments in the currency industry that have necessitated an upgrade of some of the features of the K1000 banknote. This upgrade therefore is in terms of enhancement of security features,” Banda said.
Justin Mkweu is a fast growing reporter who currently works with Times Group on the business desk.
He is however flexible as he also writes about current affairs and national issues.
