December 11, 2012 – Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced that the country won the first contract since 1945 to mint foreign circulation coins. In April 2013 it will produce 500 million 2 taka coins for Bangladesh.
Japan’s minting facilities have large capacities unused since the country’s own production has considerably decreased. The mint’s output has dropped from 5.6 billion units in 1974 to 700 million in 2011. However, production costs are high and the yen is very strong, aspects which obstacle production for other countries. Although the order from Bangladesh amounts to a value of only about $6.5 million, Japan is hoping that this will be the start of a new development. In 2010 Japan did not succeed in a contract competition with Botswana. Now Japan is looking for other possibilities with Asian countries that are experiencing economic growth.
Read an article about this news here.
The current coins are presented by the Central Bank of Bangladesh.