Guyana gets $5,000 bill

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

The Bank of Guyana (BOG) on Friday (15.11.13) launched its new denomination of the $5000 note. The circulation of same is scheduled to begin on December 9 2013.

Speaking at the launch, Deputy Governor Gobin Ganga stated that the time between the launch and the issue will be used to familiarize the public with the security features for the note. This, he said, will be done by means of advertisements; posters, presentations, television and newspaper ads.

The introduction of the $5,000 notes, Ganga said, will reduce the number of notes printed during the Christmas Season, as well as reduce the bank’s cost of printing by “several hundred million dollars over a period of time”.
When asked by demwaves.com on why there is a need to print higher denomination notes if inflation and devaluation have not impacted on the Real Value (as opposed to the Nominal value of the existing currency notes), Ganga stated that “..it is not inflation or exchange rate”.

The Deputy Governor also stated that the BOG will “eventually withdraw the five and one dollar coins from circulation, but noted that they have no immediate plans.

The new note bears about seven distinct identifiable features; the spark- colour of the value shifts from magenta to green when tilted; the watermark, bearing a macaw when held up to light; the see through feature which shows the 5,000 value when held up to light; the latent image which again displays the 5000 value when at a certain angle; the holographic stripe where the image of the jaguar can be seen; the dual track thread, which has optically variable and metallic print properties; and the blind mark which is put in place for the visually impaired and partially sighted. The signatures on the note are those of the BOG’s Governor Lawrence Williams and Finance Minister Ashni Singh.

The latter, during the launch, stated that the issuance of the $5000 denomination will serve as a means of reducing handling costs borne by businesses and everyday consumers. Singh stressed on the need for the Central Bank and other licensed financial offices to “reflect on a more concerted program on ways in which we can encourage the migration of the use of cash in today’s society”.
He also brought to remembrance the last time the now second highest denomination note ($1,000) was introduced in 2006, while noting that there has been significant economical growth from then until now.