16/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a press statement published on 16 July, the European Central Bank (ECB) revealed that in the first half of 2003, 230,534 counterfeit euro banknotes were removed from circulation. This compares with the 145,153 counterfeits removed in the previous six-month period. It admitted that the number of euro counterfeits had increased since the banknotes were first introduced. However, the bank stressed that over recent months, the rate of this increase had begun to...