Bolivia's Ministry of Economy and Public Finance and Central Bank of Bolivia declare El Alto crash banknotes non-legal tender and urge their return

Bolivia's Ministry of Economy and Public Finance, working with the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB), announced that boliviano banknotes carried in the shipment affected by the air accident in El Alto have no legal value for circulation. The BCB clarified that banknotes only become legal tender once “monetised” through authorisation for circulation after receipt and safeguarding in its vaults, and the affected notes had not reached that stage. The banknotes were part of the new Series “B” under a 27 January 2025 contract with Green Currency Malta Limited to supply 967 million notes across denominations of BOB 200, BOB 100, BOB 50, BOB 20 and BOB 10. Under the contract, manufacturer Crane is responsible for delivery into the BCB’s La Paz vaults under fully insured “door-to-door” coverage; nine prior shipments delivered 636 million notes without issues, and four additional shipments remain in 2026. The affected shipment was number 10 and contained BOB 50, BOB 20 and BOB 10 notes; it arrived at Viru Viru airport without incident and the accident occurred during onward transport to La Paz under the transport company’s direct responsibility. The authorities warned that possession, use or commercialisation of these non-monetised notes is a criminal offence, and urged the public to return any recovered notes to BCB offices or any financial institution. The BCB will carry out controls and publish the invalidated serial series.