Turkmenistan becomes first in Central Asia to introduce plastic money

Turkmenistan becomes first in Central Asia to introduce plastic money

From December 1, the Central Bank of Turkmenistan has put into circulation a polymer (plastic) banknote of 200 manats. The front of the banknote depicts the Arkadag monument, and the back depicts the administrative building of the Arkadag city administration. At the same time, modified polymer banknotes of 1, 5 and 10 manats were also issued, their color and design were preserved, but an emblem was added to mark 2025 as the International Year of Peace and Trust. Previous banknotes will also remain in circulation.

Polymer banknotes are resistant to liquids, dirt, bending and damage, are highly protected against counterfeiting and last 2-3 times longer than paper banknotes.
The first country in the world to introduce polymer money was Australia (1988), and later completely abandoned paper money.