The Bank of Ghana on Tuesday introduced into circulation an upgraded GH¢50 banknote, which has been enhanced with new security features to stem counterfeiting of the currency.

Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, acting Governor of the Bank, said the upgraded GH¢50 was being introduced to ensure that bank note security was not compromised and that the integrity of the currency was maintained to avoid general loss of confidence.

In this direction, he said the Bank decided to introduce an upgraded GH¢50 banknote with a more secured public recognition feature called 'SPARK’, together with other features.

The Spark, which replaces the hologram, is in the form of a green cocoa pod at the bottom right hand corner of the banknote.

When the upgraded banknote is tilted, the cocoa pod changes colour progressively from green to blue and back to green. A beam of light rolls on the cocoa pod.

The BOG said due to technological advancement, there was the need to continuously improve the security features of banknotes to make them more resilient to potential counterfeits.

The Ghana Cedi banknotes have been under pressure from counterfeiters both internal and external with the GH¢50 banknote being the most sophisticatedly counterfeited due to its high value.

Dr. Wampah said the upgraded GH¢50 denomination would be used concurrently with the old bank note until the 30th of September 2012.

He said after 30th September the public could only exchange the old GH¢50 banknote at the Bank of Ghana and any other banks.

He advised the public to educate themselves on the features of the upgraded GH¢50 and to keep it clean, to enhance durability.