Bangladesh Bank (BB) has announced that it will start retrieving newly printed banknotes from institutions that are unable to store them.
On Tuesday, Arif Hossain Khan, the spokesperson and executive director of the central bank, stated: “Whenever a bank reports a problem, money will be taken from them immediately.”
As per tradition, BB releases new currency notes worth between Tk 250 billion and Tk 300 billion each year ahead of the two Eids. During this period, commercial banks also exchange the notes with the public.
This year, preparations followed the usual procedure. On February 16, the central bank designated 80 commercial bank branches for distributing new notes, in addition to its own facilities. Each bank withdrew up to Tk 6.5 million in fresh currency to store in its vaults.
However, on March 10, BB issued a notification stating that the exchange of new notes would not proceed as planned for Eid-ul-Fitr. Instead, banks were instructed to store the fresh notes within their branches rather than releasing them into circulation.
Earlier, the central bank had stated that new notes would be available starting March 19, ahead of Eid, featuring the image of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the signature of former governor Abdur Rouf Talukder. The redesigned notes would be released by the end of April or early May, without Bangabandhu’s image.
Arif Hossain Khan told bdnews24.com, “Bangladesh Bank had announced the issuance of new notes. However, that decision has been reversed. New notes will not be issued on Eid. The Bangladesh Bank mentioned no reason to us. The [Bangladesh Bank] officials receive new notes every year too, but won’t get them this time.”
Rumors have circulated that the new notes featuring the previous design may not be released due to objections regarding Bangabandhu’s picture.
This situation has left many commercial banks struggling with logistical issues as their vaults are now filled with notes they cannot use. The banks report that they are unable to make any transactions with new notes due to the central bank’s lack of permission, and this has led to wasted vault space.
Given these challenges, Bangladesh Bank has decided to retrieve notes from the banks that are unable to accommodate them.
Arif stated, “Bangladesh Bank does not have plans to withdraw money from all banks right now. However, Bangladesh Bank will withdraw money from those banks that will have problems keeping new notes in the vault.”
For other banks, he said, “For now, the money will remain in the banks, but it will not be released into the market. Instead, it will be retrieved when newly printed notes are transported.”
A senior treasury official at a private bank explained, “Each branch’s vault has a capacity limit. If the deposited cash exceeds that limit, it must be transferred to the ‘chest’ branch at Bangladesh Bank or Sonali Bank. Each bank usually has more Tk 500 and Tk 1,000 notes, which take up less space. It is not possible to distribute the notes, even though they were supposed to be released before Eid on March 25. The suspension of new note distribution has put the banks in a tough situation.”
The central bank has confirmed that a redesigned series of banknotes—excluding Bangabandhu’s image—will be introduced by the end of April or early May.
The Security Printing Corporation Bangladesh Limited (Takshal), which prints the country’s banknotes, was established in 1976 and began operations in 1988 with the printing of Tk 1 notes. The government approves the design of currency notes before they are printed, soliciting tenders from artists. Once the design is finalized, materials such as paper, ink, and plates are prepared through international tenders, with plates made abroad, followed by printing at Takshal.
The latest design for Tk 200 notes, introduced in 2020, featured a new image of Bangabandhu. In addition to Bangabandhu’s image in previously printed notes, two other images were used more prominently from 2020 onwards across all notes printed thereafter.
Banknotes without Bangabandhu’s image were last printed in 2009. At that time, Salehuddin Ahmed, the then governor, is currently serving as the finance advisor for the interim government. Some red-colored Tk 500 and Tk 1,000 notes printed at that time are still in circulation.
