Central Bank launches new banknotes and coins |02 December 2016
The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) yesterday officially launched the new family of bank notes and coins to be put into circulations soon.
It was President Danny Faure and CBS Governor Caroline Abel who had the honour of unveiling the notes in the presence of the new Minister for Finance, Trade and Economic Planning Peter Larose.
Other distinguished guests included high officials and staff of CBS and of commercial banks, members of the National Assembly, among other dignitaries.
The new currency notes and coins, under the theme ‘Seychelles Unique Biodiversity – the Backbone of the Economy’, will be in circulation as from December 5, 2016 to coincide with the CBS’s 38th Anniversary.
The bank notes are in R500, R100, R50 and R25 denominations. The coins are R10, R5, R1, 25 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents and 1 cent.
On the technical side, a total of six modern visual security features have been used to make the banknotes more recognisable and more resistant to possible counterfeiting with one new latent image feature added on the top three coin denominations. The move to convert the R10 banknote into a coin will take some getting used to at first, but with time, this will allow this heavily used denomination to become more robust and more cost effective. Moreover, the adoption of the different sizes and incorporation of tactile print features will help those who are visually impaired to become more independent. The more vibrant colours and improved paper quality should result in better and more accurate handling and less soiling on the new banknotes.
“Today’s unveiling of the new family of currency fits in well within the context of one of the many roles of a Central Bank and for the Central Bank of Seychelles, we have the added context of bringing innovative parameters in this exercise in conjunction with our partners. Currency is one of the fundamental elements that drives economic growth as it allows us to transact with one another through buying and selling of goods and services, thus underpinning the theme of this new family, which is ‘Seychelles’ Unique Biodiversity – the Backbone of Our Economy’, said Ms Abel in her keynote address.
Ms Abel said in relation to its circulation on Monday, a comprehensive communication plan is being executed so that we all know our currency. The Bank has put great emphasis on public and stakeholder education by conducting high level in-house training; producing informative leaflets and posters for distribution; launching a mobile app, enhancing its website to include more information and an online training course with a quiz to test the level of understanding, as well as making use of the local media to air specific productions. These activities will extend all year round in 2017 in order to capture a wider audience.
