According to Bank of Guyana, the total value of currency notes in circulation (including notes held in the vaults of commercial banks) at the end of the first quarter of 2023 amounted to G$211.4B. This represents an increase of 20.1 percent when compared with a circulation of G$176.0 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
Guyana Standard understands that the G$5,000 note accounted for 89.3 percent in the share of total value while that of the $2,000 notes accounted for 1.3 percent.
The share of the G$1,000 note decreased to 6.7 percent from 7.6 percent while that of the G$500 notes decreased to 0.9 percent from 1.0 percent.
The share of the G$100 increased to 1.1 percent from 1.0 percent while that of the $50 fell to 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent. The $20 remained at 0.5 percent.
During the first quarter of 2023, Central Bank said the policy of ensuring that only acceptable quality notes are in circulation continued. “This was achieved by regular withdrawals of mutilated, defaced or otherwise poor quality notes and replacing them with new notes,” Central Bank said.
In a recent report it said mutilated, defaced and poor quality notes amounting to G$217 million were submitted for replacement in the first quarter of 2023 compared with G$225.9 million for the corresponding period in 2022.