Bangladesh Bank to stop issuing new currency notes before Eid

Bangladesh Bank has decided to discontinue the practice of supplying new currency notes ahead of Eid and will instead distribute new notes to banks throughout the year.

The central bank's Executive Director and spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan confirmed the development to The Business Standard today (8 March).

He said he had no information about any plan to issue new notes specifically before Eid this year.

"From now on, Bangladesh Bank is moving away from the tradition of issuing new notes specifically before Eid. Instead, notes will be supplied to banks throughout the year," he said.

He added that the central bank would no longer release new notes for any particular occasion.

"Notes will continue to enter the market throughout the year according to demand," he said.

Bangladesh Bank had issued new currency notes with a revised design last year.

At the start of Ramadan last year, the central bank announced that new notes with the previous design would be available from 19 March ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. Those notes were to feature the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the signature of former governor Abdur Rouf Talukder.

At the same time, it was stated that new notes with a different design, excluding Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's portrait, would enter circulation by late April or early May.

However, a few days before the scheduled release, Bangladesh Bank announced that new notes with the previous design featuring Sheikh Mujib's portrait would not be issued before Eid. Instead, notes with the new design would be released before Eid-ul-Adha.

At the time, the central bank did not explain why the notes were not released.

Although the bank's spokesperson did not provide clarification then, there were reports that objections to notes featuring Sheikh Mujib's portrait led to the decision not to release the previous design during Eid-ul-Fitr.