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Cost of printing money rises by Tk224 crore in a year
Bangladesh Bank spent Tk458.92 crore on printing currency in FY2025–26, up from Tk234.78 crore a year earlier, with rising paper and ink prices cited as the main drivers
Daily Sun Report, Dhaka
Published: 08 Sep 2026, 10:47 AM
Photo: Collected
The cost of printing banknotes in Bangladesh nearly doubled in a year, with Bangladesh Bank spending over Tk458.92 crore in the 2025–26 financial year.
The expenditure was almost twice the Tk234.78 crore spent on printing currency notes in the previous financial year, 2024–25. This represents an increase of Tk224.14 crore in a single year.
The figures were disclosed in Bangladesh Bank’s Auditor’s Report and Audited Financial Statements for the 2025–26 financial year.
As part of its currency management operations, Bangladesh Bank withdraws old and worn-out notes from circulation and replaces them with newly printed ones.
Specialised security paper, ink and other materials required for printing banknotes are procured from specialised and internationally recognised suppliers. Banknotes are printed in Bangladesh by The Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Limited (SPCBL).
According to the data, the central bank spent over Tk337. 29 crore on printing banknotes in 2023–24, over Tk374.03 crore in 2022–23 and over Tk384.25 crore in 2021–22.
The expenditure in 2025–26 was the highest on record among the past five financial years.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson and Executive Director Arif Hossain Khan said the specialised nature of the paper and ink used for banknotes means there are only a limited number of suppliers, leaving little scope for price negotiation.
He said the global rise in paper prices and supply-chain disruptions had also contributed to the increase in printing costs.
Following the political changeover in 2024, Bangladesh Bank took an initiative to introduce newly designed banknotes instead of those featuring the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
As part of the initiative, the designs of banknotes of different denominations are being revised.
However, Arif Hossain Khan said the redesigning of the notes was not responsible for the sharp increase in printing costs.
According to him, the cost of changing the designs is very small, while the main factors behind the higher expenditure are increases in the prices of paper and ink.