The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has made an appeal for people to use more of their coins and refrain from allowing them to gather dusts at home.
BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said that the habit of some Filipinos to leave their coins either in "piggy" banks, in their lockers, or anywhere where they lay unutilized is creating an artificial shortage of coins.
The central bank has been receiving requests from banks for huge volume of coins, when in fact there are already too many existing coins. Many of them are simply not circulating because some people do not like carrying coins, which are much heavier than notes.
Minting coins entail expenses for the BSP, Guinigundo explained. If more people will use coins, the requests from banks for the BSP to mint new coins will be reduced. As a result, the BSP's expenses will also be reduced.
"If we can get more coins circulating, the BSP may mint less coins, thus reducing its expenses. If this happens, the BSP can improve its income, and pay more taxes and remit more dividends to the national government," Guinigundo said in a press briefing.
The BSP official said that an increase in contributions of the BSP to the national government will increase the revenues and improve the ability of the latter to spend more on vital public expenditure requirements.
As of end-December 2009, Guinigundo said, there were 15.6 billion pieces of coins in the economy with a total value of P16.9 billion.
The appeal for a more active utilization of coins came amid the central bank's plan to demonetize all of the existing coins and bills. Guinigundo said the BSP will start demonetization in two to three years.
"We will make a public announcement later on as to the schedules of the demonetization," Guinigundo said.
He said that all peso coins and bills will be redesigned. He said the central bank needs to redesign notes and bills every 10 years or so. The purpose is to make it difficult for unscrupulous people to produce counterfeit money.
The proposed new 500-peso bill will already carry the face of former President Corazon Aquino, to be placed together with the face of her husband, Ninoy Aquino, that is currently printed in the bill.
Source: inquirer.net
