The head of currency at New Zealand’s Reserve Bank, Brian Lang, told newspaper The Press that technology has moved on since the first plastic notes were produced in 1998, and that the technological advances would help keep the banknotes fresher, longer.

$5 notes had suffered more rapid wear than other notes because they were more often carried with coins in people’s pockets, as opposed to larger notes, which tended to travel in wallets or purses.

Two million new $5 bills were printed last year and another run is expected later this year.

“Technology has moved on,” Lang said. “We would expect a more robust ink would probably be applied to those.

“We are looking towards improvement, but it is all incremental stuff.”

New Zealand’s banknotes are printed in Melbourne by a division of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Despite the proliferation of ATM cards and machines, the use of currency has continued to rise at about 7 per cent per annum. Currently around 100 million notes and 1 billion coins are in public use, adding up to a total of around $2.5 billion.

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