Banxico to issue new MXN $200 banknote

Currency counterfeiting is not a concern, but to contribute to reducing this crime, in the second semester of 2019, the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) will issue a new MXN $200 banknote , with improved safety measures.

The general director of Issuance of Banxico, Alejandro Alegre Rabiela , confirmed that the start of circulation of this denomination is still standing, and is part of the new family of banknotes that started on August 2019 with the MXN $500 banknote , with the image of Benito Juárez.

The new MXN $200 banknote will have on its front the historical theme of the Independence , and the effigies of Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos , while on the back, it will have a representation of the natural heritage of the ecosystem of scrubland and desert with the golden eagle, the sahuaro, and the Biosphere Reserve of El Pinacate and Great Altar Desert.

In an interview with Notimex, the officer informed that in 2018 , 339,000 false banknotes were detected, a number superior to the 301,000 of 2017, while regarding metallic coins , last year 1,700 of them were received, versus 976 in 2017 .

Nonetheless, he detailed, the indicator of Banxico to measure the size of currency counterfeiting in Mexico is the same used in the rest of the world, and it considers the number of false pieces per every million of authentic banknotes in circulation.

Thus, last year, there were 67 false banknotes per million in circulation, which despite it is bigger than the 64 registered in 2017 , is still under the average of 115 false banknotes per million between 2010 and 2014 , with a falling trend in the last years.

Besides, in the first four months of 2019 , 111,000 false banknotes and 300 coins have been received, both numbers under those registered during the same period of last year.

Counterfeit money on the rise in Mexico

Banxico is working to reduce false banknotes

Alegre Rabiela highlighted that authorities have taken charge of this crime for many years, and are working to keep reducing the number of false pieces .

He referred that since 2001, Banxico participates in this coordinated job to prevent and fight currency counterfeiting , through conventions with Mexico Attorney General’s Office , the Federal Police , as well as state police and attorney generals.

Through all these years, there have been results, even with the arrival of the new federal administration, with which Banxico will ratify the existent conventions. In December 2018, the alleged suspects of almost 25% of seized counterfeit pieces were arrested and were bands made up of Mexicans.

Currency counterfeiting in the country, he said, is higher compared to the average in Latin America , but the region also has more advanced skills on the persecution of this crime and do not have a security agenda as complicated as the Mexican.

In this framework, he rules out affectations on Mexican society due to currency counterfeiting, compared to the crimes that have assigned more resources to their fight, such as kidnap, extortion, or household, pedestrian, or vehicle robbery.

Banxico’s director of Issuance informed that the banknotes of MXN $200 and $500 are the most counterfeited, reason why the central institute decided these two denominations to be the first to be put into circulation as part of the new family of banknotes.

That is why, on August 2018 , it issued a new MXN $500 banknote , whose historical motive in the front is the Reform and the restoration of the Republic, as well as the effigy of Benito Juárez; while on the back, it has represented coasts, seas, and islands with the gray whale.

In the first two weeks of its issue, the first counterfeits of the Benito Juárez banknote were presented, which happens all around the world once a new banknote is put into circulation.

He considered that it is too soon to knows if the new MXN $500 banknote has contributed to reducing counterfeiting in that denomination, since others with this amount with the image of Ignacio Zaragoza and Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are still in circulation, the latter of which is the most counterfeited.

Hence, Alegre Rabiela asserted that there is no unforgeable banknote in the world, since technology makes digital reproduction available to anyone, which facilitates counterfeiting.

Most banknotes imitations in Mexico are low quality , for they are digital reproductions that seem to be made with a photocopier and counterfeiting is made occasionally, perhaps to make it to the end of the month.

It has also been detected that the elaboration of false banknotes or coins has a seasonality , related to seasons of high demand for cash , such as the season of offers of “El Buen Fin,” December, the Holy Week, or on vacations.

To contribute to the reduction of the counterfeiting of banknotes, three actions are implemented: a new family of banknotes with higher security measures ; promoting the habit of checking banknotes to prevent receiving false pieces, and the prevention and fight of this crime by authorities through workgroups.

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New MXN $200 banknote

The officer of Banxico confirmed that the start of circulation of the new MXN $200 banknote is still standing, during the second semester of 2019, as part of the new family that started to be issued on August 2018 with the MXN $500 banknote.

The new MXN $200 banknote will start its circulation next Monday, September 2nd, announced the head of Banxico, Alejandro Díaz de León, just in time for Mexico's Independence Day.

"On September 2nd , which is Monday, we will reveal the new MXN $200 banknote; hence, we will all be able to celebrate," said D íaz de León , in a news conference regarding the Quarterly Inflation Report.

“After the MXN $500 that we issued last August, comes the MXN $200 banknote during the second semester of this year, followed by the denominations of MXN $1,000 and MXN $100.”

About the possibility of the circulation of an MXN $2,000 banknote , he specified that it will depend on whether users need this denomination and “perhaps, it will be considered by 2023 ; we still have some years to see if there is a demand of high denomination banknotes.”

Alegre Rabiela urged the population to check the banknotes they receive, for that is the best way to prevent receiving a false banknote, for in the end the one who loses the corresponding amount of face value is the one who has that piece of paper or plastic without value.

Regarding the doubt of the authenticity of any banknote or coin, he suggested to take it to a bank to be sent to Banxico for its analysis, since it is the only institution in charge of determining if they are authentic or false .

The production, storage, and distribution of false banknotes or coins is a federal crime punishable with imprisonment from six to 12 years .

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