FE Report

The central bank of Bangladesh is going to set up a 'Fake Note Analysis Centre' aiming to improve the security features of local bank notes and check circulation of fake notes, official sources said.

The centre will be established in cooperation with Germany's central bank. A team from the central bank of Germany will come here in February next for imparting training in this connection.

"If we can establish the centre, it will benefit the money market of our country," Bangladesh Bank (BB) Executive Director Dasgupta Asim Kumar told FE on Thursday.

Security features of the notes would improve further aiding detection of fake note more easily and thus checking manufacturing of counterfeit notes, he added.

However, the BB is also framing a law aimed at prevention of fake note manufacturing and circulation by any individual or any group of people, terrorists or syndicates. The draft of the new law is now in the final stage, according to official sources.

The draft act was already vetted by the law department of the central bank and would be sent to the law ministry through the finance ministry soon, a BB official said.

As proposed, the law would carry death penalty as the capital punishment for producing and circulating 10,000 counterfeit notes and the minimum penalty would be six months in jail.

The central bank official said circulation of fake currencies became a major cause of concern. It might put the economy under threat and also raise the inflation rate. So the BB was preparing the act to contain the menace.