The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has announced nn upgraded K1, 000 banknote, which has improved security features, aimed at eliminating forgery.

The RBM Director of Currency Management Joseph Milner confirmed that the new banknote will start circulating on the market next Monday.

The upgraded bank note has five new security features including  a spark live which is fish shaped that is located in front and changes colour from gold to green when tilted and a watermark. The watermark is an image embedded inside the banknote. When the note is viewed against direct light, the watermark appears as a portrait of Kamuzu Banda with the number 1,000 below it.

It also has a security thread placed vertically near the centre at the back of the note which changes colour from green to blue once the note is tilted, improved roughness and a holographic foil stripe.

Milner confirmed that 649 million notes will be available across all commercial banks for circulation.