AKIPRESS.COM - The National Bank of Kazakhstan has issued a new 1,000 tenge bill, Tengrinews reports.

The new bill was put into circulation on December 12. “The banknote has already been put into circulation. It will be used alongside the old banknotes issued in 2006,” the representative of the Central Bank said.

The 1,000 tenge bill is part of the bank's Samruk series. There are two SPARK protection elements on the new banknote. This, according to the Central Bank representative, did not change the design of the banknote. The banknote features the signature of the Head of the Central Bank of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov.

Answering a question why a lot of banknotes had been issued lately, the National Bank of Kazakhstan explained that they had been issuing commemorative banknotes only.

The Bank representative said that counterfeit notes were a rarity in Kazakhstan - one counterfeit note in one million tenge notes. In comparison, Russia has 10 to 15 counterfeit notes in one million rubles, while Europe has around 25 counterfeit notes per a million.

2000 tenge note is the most counterfeited note in Kazakhstan, he said. In Europe, € 50 is the most counterfeited note and $20 is most falsified bill in the United States.