POLAND ISSUES NEW 500 ZLOTY BANKNOTE

A new PLN 500 banknote will enter circulation in Poland on 10 February, the country’s central bank has said. The new bill is a response to market demand and the rising costs of maintaining the central bank’s strategic reserves, according to the National Bank of Poland (NBP).

The note will feature an image of King Jan III Sobieski, who reigned from 1674 to 1696, to preserve the chronological continuity of the “Polish Rulers” series, the bank said.

The bank started working on the new note in November 2014.

Designed by Andrzej Heidrich and initiated in 1995, the “Polish Rulers” series includes Mieszko I (who ruled from c. 960 to 992 and is featured on the PLN 10 note), Boleslaus I the Brave (992-1025; PLN 20), Casimir III the Great (1333-1370; PLN 50), Ladislaus II Jagiełło (1386-1434; PLN 100), and Sigismund I (1506-1548; PLN 200).

All the notes are produced for the NBP by the Polish Security Printing Works in Warsaw.

To read the complete article, see:
A new PLN 500 banknote will enter circulation in Poland on 10 February, the country’s central bank has said. (http://poland.pl/economy/investments-projects/new-polish-pln-500-note-enter-circulation/)

Going against a global trend of discouraging cash use, the European Union's biggest eastern economy Poland launched a new 500-zloty ($123.82) banknote on Friday to reduce the cost of storing reserves and better reflect rising levels of affluence.

The central bank took the decision despite a request from a deputy economy minister to reconsider on grounds the new banknotes could facilitate criminal activity and make it more difficult to fight the grey economy.

"It is clear that there is a need to supplement the structure of banknotes in circulation," central bank board member Jacek Bartkiewicz told reporters. "The need for cash is rising."

Thanks to its robust economic growth and despite over two years of deflation that ended last year, Poland has seen a steep rise in cash used, with the value of currency in circulation rising by 15 percent last year alone.

Bartkiewicz said the new banknote will be available to the general public, though he did not expect it to be widely used in day-to-day transactions.

He said the banknote would make it cheaper for the central bank to keep and produce its strategic cash reserve.

Poland's new 500 zloty banknote will be worth approximately the same as the highest denomination note in Denmark, Norway - two countries actively promoting electronic money - and Romania, but still considerably less than in the Czech Republic, Belarus or in the euro zone.

To read the complete article, see:
Bucking global trend, Poland launches 500 zloty banknote (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bucking-global-trend-poland-launches-121054299.html)

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