Staff Correspondent:

Bangladesh Bank has said new banknotes will be available from the first week of June, as early as Sunday or Monday, with fresh designs for the Tk 1000, Tk 50, and Tk 20 notes.

On Sunday, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan confirmed that banks will distribute the notes from Jun 1 or Jun 2.

The redesigned notes will showcase images of mosques, temples, historic landmarks, and natural landscapes instead, Governor Ahsan H Mansur said on Saturday.

“Three new notes will be introduced to the market very soon. You’ll see them before Eid. No individual’s portrait will appear on them.”

“They will feature our natural scenery and iconic heritage structures,” he added.

At the start of Ramadan, Mansur had said the central bank would release new notes using the old design on Mar 19 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, featuring Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s image and the signature of former governor Abdur Rouf Talukder.

He had said the currency notes without Bangabandhu’s image were expected to hit the market at the end of April or early May.

Several days before the scheduled release of the fresh notes, however, the central bank announced that the new currency notes would not be issued for Eid-ul-Fitr, breaking away from a long-standing tradition.

Bangladesh Bank did not explain the move, though rumours exist that objections to notes with Bangabandhu’s image had led to the decision.