New coins will enter circulation

TIRANA, 14 April 2008. The Bank of Albania has announced it will replace its two smallest bank notes with coins, claiming ALL 100 and ALL 200 bills lack durability.
The Bank of Albania said the coins will enter circulation by the end of this year and these two bills can be exchanged for full value in banks until 31 December 2010. The bills to be phased out carry the images of Albania’s first head of state, Ismail Qemali, and Fan S. Noli, Albania’s former prime minister in the 1920s.
The ALL 100 coins have already been in circulation, along with paper bills of the same denomination, for a considerable time and only the ALL 200 coins need to be newly introduced. There is no word yet on the look of the new coins.
Other coins in circulation in Albania are ALL 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1.
The Bank of Albania also plans to issue a new bill next year, the first ALL 2,000 note. Currently, the highest denomination note in the country is ALL 5,000.
At current exchange rates, 1 euro is exchanged for ALL 122 and USD 1 is exchanged for ALL 80.(Tirana Times Staff)