2017-07-25 Tue

In the first half of 2017, over 7,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were taken out from circulation in Portugal. The number is 3,588 more than that in the second half of 2016. 4,426 fake 20-euro notes and 1,834 50-euro notes have been withdrawn this year already.

Central Bank officials have stated that the fake notes can be identified by the "Touch - Look - Incline" method. Apart from that, the fake notes remain residual unlike original ones.

The 20- and 50-euro banknotes made for 85% of fake notes. 96.7% of counterfeit notes were found in euro area countries; 2.3%, in member states Of the European Union and 1%, in other parts of the world. Officials have assured that since the fake notes are out of circulation, the possibility of finding them now is not high.

The number and value of euro banknotes in circulation increased by around 7% and 3.9% respectively in 2016. More than 20 billion euro banknotes have been added with a total value of over €1.1 billion.