ArabFinance: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is starting to issue new polymer banknotes by mid-2021 at the new printing house in the New Administrative Capital, Ahram Online cited the CBE on March 15th.

The CBE previously announced the issuance of a polymer version of the EGP 10 banknote this year.

This will help the CBE to offer more durable and harder to fake polymer banknotes “as many European countries do,” according to the news portal.

 Traditional paper money currently in circulation will remain acceptable in all financial transactions.

The new polymer notes are expected to be made from eco-friendly materials and to be resistant to moisture, water, and microbes, Ahram Online cited Khaled Farouk, deputy governor of the CBE.

The four-production-line printing house in NAC is the biggest across Egypt and is capable of printing all categories of paper and polymer banknotes, Farouk said.

The CBE Governor Tarek Amer said last year the country would print new polymer EGP 10 and EGP 20 banknotes as of 2021.