BSP to redesign banknotes and coins

CEBU, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will soon change the designs of the banknotes and coins by yearend in order to incorporate more security features and signs of authenticity, especially in the bank notes.

In a multi-sectoral meeting with stakeholders in Cebu last Friday, BSP Monetary Stability sector Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo advised the public to take advantage of the coins and bank notes that are now circulating in the economy by using them everyday in their transactions before they get phased out.

“Two to three years after we issue the new generation notes—P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1, 000 banks notes and coins, those with the old designs will be demonetized. (They will already be worthless,)” he said.

Guinigundo said the current notes were issued some 20 years ago and a lot of technologies, particularly on security and determining the authenticity of banks notes have developed.

“We want to take advantage of these technologies,” he said.

Meanwhile, the BSP has asked the help of banks in its coin recirculation program by accepting coin deposits from their patrons and exchanging these with bank notes. The BSP has re-launched the program, which was launched in 2006, to regain the interest and support of the public.

Cebu Bankers Club (CBC) president John Salas in turn asked the BSP to increase the coin allocation of Cebu, saying the province needs more coins in its local economy than the other provinces in the country due to its dynamic economic activities.

While BSP’s Guinigundo assured the CBC that the BSP “will look into the matter,” he said that the allocation of coins per province is immaterial because coins circulate nationwide.

As of 2009, some 15.6 billion pieces of coins are circulating in the economy with a total face value of P16.1 billion. Some 88 percent of the total coins in circulation are low-denomination coins such as 25 centavos, 10 centavos, five centavos and 1 centavo.

“Yet there is still a perceived shortage of these low-denominated coins,” Guinigundo said.

He said coins amounting to “tens of millions” were flushed out and back to the economy when the BSP launched the coin recirculation program in 2006. The support has however faded during the years. This is why BSP has re-launched the program this year.

BSP hopes to duplicate nationwide the support it gathered from various sectors such as the education, transportation, media, banks, the church and the retail sector in Manila. The BSP has signed memorandum of agreements with these sectors, which pledged contributions to the program.

The banks promised to provide and accept coins from retailers, individuals and non-government organizations and invest in facilities that will ensure the smooth flow of coins within the economy while the retailers promised to receive coins as payment and give exact change. The transport group’s contribution on the other hand is to encourage members to accept coins, even low denominated ones, from passengers and implement a coin exchange arrangement with the Philippine Retailers Association members who are heavy users of coins.