Central bank heads from major industrialised nations said that leading technology firms had agreed to modify computer equipment and software to keep counterfeiters from forging banknotes.

The Group of 10 (G10) central bank governors said in a joint statement that they had developed a system using anti-counterfeiting technologies which prevent computers and digital imaging tools from capturing or reproducing images from protected banknotes.

"Several leading personal computer hardware and software manufacturers have voluntarily adopted the system in recognition of the harm that counterfeit currency can cause their customers and the general public," the governors said.

The technology does not have the capacity to track the use of a computer or digital imaging tool and consumers will not notice any difference in the performance or effectiveness of products equipped with the technology, the statement said.

G10 central banks launched plans in May 2000 to develop such a system to counter the threat that criminals would use computers to create fake banknotes.

That resulted in the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, a working group of 27 central banks and note-printing authorities whose mission it is to investigate threats to banknote security.

The G10 governors met in Basel, Switzerland, under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).