Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has announced that the refreshed Jamaican banknotes will arrive in the island by the first week of December.

He made the disclosure in a tweet yesterday in which he disclosed that the island’s automated teller machines (ATMs) are now being retrofitted to facilitate the issuing of the new notes to the public.

The finance minister tweeted that the public will be sensitised before the banknotes are publicly issued, and noted that the process is expected to take between three and six months.

Clarke, who announced the development of the new notes during his contribution to the 2022-2023 Budget Debate last March, said the new notes are part of the work being done by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to upgrade/refresh the currency in circulation.

He explained that this was being done to save costs through increased durability of banknotes, enhance the security of the notes to reduce the risk of counterfeiting, enhance the features to better meet the needs of the visually impaired, and ensure that the colour and other distinctions among banknotes of different denominations are clear.

The BOJ announced earlier this year that it is to spend more than J$1 billion to produce the refreshed banknotes, including a new J$2,000 note on which the images of late former prime ministers Edward Seaga and Michael Manley will appear together.