Counterfeiting the lek is becoming impossible! New denominations put into circulation with additional security features are almost making it impossible for criminal groups to “produce imitations of themselves”. Data from the Central Bank shows that last year there were only 156 counterfeit banknotes for every 1 million pieces in circulation. In 2020 this indicator was 1,183 counterfeit banknotes, decreasing to 812 in 2021 and 343 in 2022.
"It is a well-known fact that the Bank of Albania has improved the security of banknotes with innovations for all denominations. Elements that are difficult to counterfeit have been introduced. For the 200 or 10,000 denominations, we have not had a single case of counterfeiting," said Aranit Bajri, head of the National Analysis Center at the Central Bank.
Regarding the distribution of counterfeit banknotes by denomination, the 1000 lek and 2000 lek denominations hold the main weight, followed by the 5000 lek denomination. The 50 lek metal coin continues to be the only counterfeited currency, but in low and negligible quantities.
"There are three levels of security in a banknote: the first level of security for the public is the watermark strip, which shows the portrait, the value of the banknote. Another element is the security thread that changes color based on the viewing angle. In the right corner is also the book with a pen, which changes color when tilted. In addition, the nature of the paper itself is of a 100 percent cotton composition, reinforced with raised prints that can also be felt by hand by people with visual impairments," emphasized Aranit Bajri.
The largest number of counterfeit banknotes last year belonged to the old series with 133 pieces, which accounted for 85 percent of the total, in contrast to the new series, which has high quality and strong security elements. (A2 Televizion)
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