WELLINGTON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua Finance) -- New Zealand's wallets and purses will be sporting a lot more color when the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) begins releasing new banknotes designed to foil counterfeiters from next year.
RBNZ deputy governor Geoff Bascand said Thursday that designs and printing techniques had advanced significantly since the current banknotes were released in 1999, and demand for cash continued to increase.
The brighter new designs would feature the same eminent New Zealanders and flora and fauna as the current banknotes, Bascand said in a published speech on the launch of the designs.
The notes were at the forefront of banknote technology, Bascand said.
"Our new notes contain more sophisticated security features that greatly enhance the overall design. The transparent windows are larger, and striking holographic features will help to make the notes very easy to verify, but hard to counterfeit," he said.
"Counterfeit rates are low in New Zealand compared to the rest of the world, but technology changes are making it easier and we need to stay ahead of the game."
The new notes would be released progressively, with lower denominations coming in October next year and the higher denominations in April 2016.
Both the current notes and new notes would be legal tender.
"The Reserve Bank will withdraw the old series notes from circulation naturally as the banks return them to us," Bascand said.
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