Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The central bank of Bangladesh started on Thursday release of 40.50 million pieces of currency notes of five different denominations with picture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The currency notes are of the denominations of Tk 2.0, Tk 5.0, Tk 100, Tk 500 and Tk 1,000 and were issued initially from the counters of the Motijheel office of the central bank in the capital Dhaka Thursday afternoon.

A large number of people were seen rushing to two counters at the Motijheel office of the central bank to collect the new currency notes which created a chaotic situation there.

“We’ll look into the matter with the help of CCTV,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said, adding that the central bank is monitoring the overall situation to ensure smooth release of new notes.

The BB official also said the fresh currency notes will be available in other offices of the central bank and all commercial banks from Sunday.

The central bank has opened two counters at its Mitijheel office to exchange the new currency notes with the existing ones, the central bank official said, adding that the release of fresh currency notes will continue until the Eid-ul-Azha festival through the counters.

Alongside the new notes, the currency notes and metal coins, now in circulation, will also remain valid, the BB officials added.

BBN/SSR/AD-11Aug11-11:59 pm (BST)