MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday said it released the first 10 million pieces of the new P1,000 polymer banknotes to banks last week.

The release is part of the phased issuance for the circulation of the newly designed currency, the central bank said in a statement.

The initial quantity is 2 percent of the total polymer banknotes to be circulated, the BSP said.

A total of 500 million pieces of the new bill is expected to be circulated alongside the previous paper version of the P1,000 banknote by 2023, the BSP said.

The bill officially started circulation last April 18.

"Prior to release, the BSP conducted technical briefings for bank personnel, machine suppliers, and cash-in-transit service providers to educate them on the design and security features of the polymer banknotes," the central bank said.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said the new polymer banknotes would be released through banks' over-the-counter transactions as ATMs in the country needed to be recalibrated to process the new currency.

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