Plans to Issue New Banknote Series with Updated Safety and Anti-counterfeiting Features

1 Mr Fadli Fawzi asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether there are any plans to issue a new series of banknotes for the Singapore dollar with updated safety and anti-counterfeiting features, given that the current Portrait series has been in circulation for over 25 years, longer than any previous series of banknotes.

Mr Gan Kim Yong (for the Prime Minister): The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) monitors the incidences and methods of counterfeiting and assesses the robustness of the security features of our notes against these techniques. While new security features available are an improvement, we have assessed that the existing security features remain effective against prevailing counterfeiting techniques. MAS also tracks the counterfeit rate of Singapore currency notes, which is very low compared to those of key global currencies. We cannot be complacent and will be vigilant to counterfeiting risks, ensuring that our security features continue to be effective.