The cost of printing Bangladesh’s banknotes has more than doubled since the Russia-Ukraine war began, as fuel and raw material prices increased. The rise in the dollar price also had a major impact on the increase in costs.
The lack of timely planning, emergency imports of raw materials by air and reliance on a single supplier have also increased the cost of printing banknotes, according to Bangladesh Bank sources.
Banknotes in Bangladesh are printed by the Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Limited (SPCBL), which is a state-run entity that is operated by the central bank. Around Tk 4.5 billion is now spent annually on printing new banknotes.
An internal report of Bangladesh Bank shows that over the five years from fiscal 2020–21 to 2024–25, the cost of printing banknotes ranging from Tk 2 to Tk 1,000 increased significantly. For some denominations, production costs rose by more than 200 per cent. The costs have increased further since then.
Cost of printing each banknote
An analysis of the central bank report shows that printing costs increased the most for Tk 20 and Tk 50 notes over the past five years. In fiscal 2020–21, it cost Tk 1.58 to print a Tk 20 note, which rose to Tk 5.20 in 2024–25. This means the printing cost of the note increased by around 229 per cent.
Meanwhile, printing a Tk 50 note cost Tk 1.52 in fiscal 2020–21, which jumped to Tk 4.89 in 2024–25. During the period, the printing cost of the Tk 50 note increased by 222 per cent.
In fiscal 2020–21, it cost Tk 5.49 to print the highest-denomination Tk 1,000 note in the country. By 2024–25, the cost had nearly doubled to Tk 10.44. This means the cost of printing a Tk 1,000 note increased by around 90 per cent.
The printing cost of the widely used Tk 500 note in the country also increased significantly. While it cost Tk 3.74 to produce a Tk 500 note in fiscal 2020–21, the cost rose to Tk 6.58 in 2024–25, around 76 per cent higher than before.
For the Tk 100 note, the cost per piece increased from Tk 3.96 to Tk 5.58, representing a 41 per cent increase. The cost of printing a Tk 200 note rose from Tk 3.80 to Tk 5.21.
The production costs of lower-denomination notes have also been rising. In fiscal 2020–21, it cost Tk 1.20 to print a Tk 2 note, which rose to Tk 1.82 in 2024–25. The printing cost of a Tk 5 note increased from Tk 1.51 to Tk 2.33. However, the regulatory authority has stopped printing both denominations.
The cost of printing a Tk 10 note increased from Tk 1.42 in fiscal 2020–21 to Tk 1.57 in 2023–24.