Not printing new small denomination money, saving more than 1,000 billion VND

Deputy Governor of the State Bank Dao Minh Tu chaired the press conference. (Photo: Van Hieu/Vietnam+)

Saving more than 1,000 billion VND

That was the comment of Deputy Governor of the State Bank Dao Minh Tu at a press conference on meeting cash needs and ensuring ATM operations during the 2015 Lunar New Year, held by the State Bank on January 21 in Hanoi.

Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu said that since 2013, the State Bank has implemented a policy of not printing and issuing new small-denomination banknotes for circulation during the Lunar New Year to limit the use of these currencies in cultural, festival and religious activities.

Specifically, since 2013, not printing new 500 VND notes has helped save the budget more than 94 billion VND from reducing printing and issuance costs. In 2014, not printing new 1,000 VND and 2,000 VND notes contributed to saving more than 314 billion VND.

During the 2015 Lunar New Year, the State Bank will continue to stop printing and issuing new banknotes with denominations of 5,000 VND or less. The amount of money expected to be saved is about 580 billion VND.

In total, over the past 3 years, the State Bank has saved more than 1,084 billion VND from the policy of stopping printing new small-denomination banknotes.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, Director of the Treasury Issuance Department, State Bank of Vietnam, also said that currently, to save costs, the State Bank does not print small denominations of 5,000 VND or less. This is the third consecutive year that the State Bank has decided not to put small denominations into circulation.

However, the State Bank still maintains a reserve of small denominations of money that meet circulation standards to ensure the payment needs of people during the 2015 Lunar New Year and the following years.

Therefore, the representative of this agency hopes to receive people's support for the policy of using Vietnamese currency reasonably, contributing to preserving and promoting traditional cultural identity and saving social costs.

Still related to small change and new money during Tet, Mr. Tu especially noted that this year there is a new regulation that the State Bank will closely coordinate with the police force to strictly control the situation of speculation and exchanging new small change for profit. "According to Decree No. 96, this behavior will be punished with a fine of 20 - 40 million VND," Mr. Tu affirmed.

Illustrative photo. (Photo: TH/Vietnam+)

Meet cash needs during Tet

In order to meet the increasing demand for cash in terms of quantity and denomination structure during the 2015 Lunar New Year, the State Bank has proactively developed cash supply plans and organized cash transfers to State Bank branches in provinces and cities to increase reserves, ready to meet the cash needs of organizations and individuals.

To implement this, the Governor of the State Bank has issued a document directing the directors of State Bank branches in provinces, cities, and transaction offices to be responsible for ensuring sufficient cash supply for credit institutions and State treasuries in the area, thereby meeting the cash needs of organizations and individuals.

The State Bank has also requested credit institutions with ATM systems to pay special attention to increasing ATM funding and finding solutions to ensure the system is running smoothly, best meeting customers' cash withdrawal needs.

On average, each ATM costs about 500 million - 700 million VND, with all types of money from 500,0000, 200,000, 100,000 and denominations of tens of thousands, so the State Bank has prepared enough quantity.

According to the State Bank, if in previous years there were still rumors about a shortage of small bills, this year there will be no more, the entire denomination structure will be fully met.

Leaders of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) also said that the bank has carefully prepared all plans from increasing deposit limits to security measures, ensuring the ATM system operates smoothly during Tet./.

According to VNA