AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Bank of Tanzania has reprinted the banknotes that were released into circulation in 2010 with some changes in some of the security features.
According to a circular dated April 2, 2020 issued by the BoT Governor Prof Florens Luoga to all banks and financial institutions, the changes include signatures, whereby the re-printed banknotes bear the signatures of the current Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango and the current Governor of Bank of Tanzania, Prof Florens Luoga.
“This change involves all banknotes in denominations of TZS 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10000,” Prof Luoga said.
He said one of the main changes is the replacement of the ‘motion thread’, which is a thin stripe in the banknote, which contains an image that moves when the banknote is tilted side-to-side, or up and down.
“This feature has been replaced with a ‘Rolling Star’, a thin windowed security thread that shows a movement and color change, and when the note is tilted, curved lines, (waves) can be seen moving from right to left and backwards. This change involves three banknotes of denominations TZS 2000, 5000 and 10000,” Prof Luoga explained.
He added that all other security features remained the same as per the current circulating banknotes.
The central bank governor further noted that the banknotes with enhanced security features have already been released into circulation and will circulate concurrently with the existing ones.
He, however, said that publicity materials providing detailed descriptions of security features will be sent to the financial institutions, calling upon them to educate their customers on the enhanced security features.
In a press conference held recently in Dar es Salaam, Prof Luoga said that following the increase of fake banknotes in circulation, his institution, in collaboration with other security organs, has been making a close monitoring to ensure that the culprits are held accountable.
He said the move has facilitated the arrest of some suspects in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Kigoma and their prosecution.
