A new $2,000 note is to be launched this year to coincide with the country’s 60th Independence celebration, while all notes will be refreshed with additional security marks.

This was announced by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke in his budget presentation on Tuesday. According to Clarke, the move is being done to not only upgrade the security, use of life, and technical needs of the currency, but to also restore the heroes to prominence on the banknotes and promote unity in the country. The new notes will also feature a Jamaican 60th anniversary logo, along with a shift in the security strip from the middle to the right.

“To Comrades and my fellow Labourites, I say that by co-locating images of great past leaders on our banknotes we do not deny anyone the unique identity of their contribution to Jamaica nor do we shield them from the full introspection of history. There is a mountaintop that we must climb, where fruit and honey lie waiting on us… but we can only get there together by climbing together,” an ecstatic Clarke explained to the parliamentarians and viewers watching the proceedings.

Only national heroes and former prime ministers can be included on the country’s banknotes. This meant all seven national heroes and four deceased prime ministers/premiers were to be included on the newly designed polymer substrate notes to be printed and designed by De La Rue. Two national heroes and three former prime ministers are currently featured on the banknotes in use.

Clarke, in presenting the case for the introduction of the $2,000 note, said it is needed to reduce the number of notes to settle transactions between a $1,000 and a $5,000 note. The announcement that former prime ministers Edward Seaga and Michael Manley would be placed on the same note elicited shock and awe from the Members of the House.

Edward Seaga was the former leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and led Jamaica between November 1980 and February 1989, while Michael Manley led Jamaica between March 1972 and November 1980 and February 1989 and March 1992, and also served as president of the People’s National Party.

The back of the new note will show the photo of a group of children from Central Branch Primary School in 1962. These children were formerly on the $2 note before it was discontinued.

The $2,000 was accompanied by the introduction of a new $1,000 note, which would feature former Prime Minister of Jamaica Sir Alexander Bustamante alongside former Premier Norman Manley, who is currently featured on the $5 coin. Bustamante is currently featured on the $1 coin.

“The Right Excellent Sir Alexander Bustamante and the Right Excellent Norman Manley will be restored and will appear together on the upgraded $1,000 banknote. Jamaica went through a near civil war experience in the 1970s that deeply scarred the national consciousness. Electoral contests became overtly violent in nature. Remarkably, through great political and civil society leadership our country stepped back from the brink and reformed itself. Today, Jamaica’s electoral system is a model for the world,” Dr Clarke added in his presentation.

Following the demonetisation of the $0.10 copper coin in February 2018, National Hero Paul Bogle will make a return to the $50 note to be complemented by National Hero George William Gordon who will be upgraded from the $10 coin. Bogle was last featured on the $2 note before it was demonetised in 1994, with Gordon moving from a $10 banknote to the current coin format in 1999.

As Jamaica’s first national hero in 1969 and leader of black consciousness across the world, the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey will be the sole person to be featured on the front of the $100 note. Garvey is currently featured on the $20 coin and was featured on the $0.50 banknote before it became a copper coin in June 1976.

National Hero Samuel Sharpe has been upgraded from the $50 note to join National Hero Nanny of the Maroons on the $500 note. Former Prime Minister Sir Donald Sangster has been upgraded from the $100 note to the $5,000 note alongside former Prime Minister Hugh Shearer.

The introduction of the $2,000 note was done based on a recommendation from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). The $5,000 note was introduced to Jamaica’s monetary system in September 2009 by the BOJ. Currently, a $1,000 transaction settled by a $5,000 note requires four $1,000 notes compared to two $2,000 notes when it is introduced as legal tender later this year.

The new banknotes would also feature the latest technology used to secure banknotes across the globe. The $50 and $100 notes used a hybrid substrate, which is a mix of cotton and polymer, while the $500, $1,000, and $5,000 notes are on vanished cotton. The new banknotes will have a longer lifespan and durability, which is more cost effective since fewer orders will have to be placed.

The change in the colours of the banknotes is also being done to address the concerns of the visually impaired community, which highlighted the limitations. Clarke also said the closeness in colour between the $500 note and the $5,000 notes will be addressed.