Jwala: New $100 bill four years too late

JWALA RAMBARAN, former Central Bank governor, said the Government's intended switch of the $100 notes to a polymer note was four years too late, and came after the Government had quashed his original plans to do just that.

He spoke to Newsday on Thursday.

"I had already had the $100 commissioned and ready to be distributed as a polymer note for December 2015."

He explained, "The reason people move into polymer is that we could reduce the cost of printing. We would have notes that would last longer, and, more importantly, we would have notes that would be able to deal with the threat of counterfeiting.

"It comes four years too late. They have now woken up and realised this is the direction to go in."

Alongside Rambaran's claim of authorship of the new bill, the Central Bank in a statement hinted at such a continuity by saying the change had been part of its plans since a few years ago.
"The introduction is consistent with the objectives laid out in the Central Bank’s Strategic Plan 2016/17-2020/21," the bank said. It added that the new bill will be introduced next Monday.
The statement said the polymer bill will, "improve the durability of the TT banknotes, upgrade the capacity to protect against forgery, and allow for easier tactile recognition by the visually impaired."
The new bill is based on a polymer substrate and is said to have much-enhanced security features.
The bank explained, "The Central Bank intends to expand the range of polymer notes to the other denominations in 2020.
"The new polymer $100 note will co-circulate with the existing paper-based $100 note remaining as legal tender until further notice."