Liberia to Re-Introduce Coins

[Bimat]

CBL Promises To Introduce Coin Denominations

Tue, 08/02/2016 - 02:19

By: Edwin M. Fayia III

Authorities at the Central of Liberia (CBL) havr assured the public that it would shortly reintroduce coins to ease the situation of smaller change on the local market.

A team CBL senior staff CBL made the pronouncement on Monday, August 1, during interactive discussions with residents and business people of Kakata, Margibi County. The discussions were mainly to raise awareness about the new banknotes that the bank would shortly introduce into the country.

The awareness program drew hundreds of Kakata City denizens including local government officials, whose questions concerning the features and the values of the new banknotes were subsequently answered by members of the CBL's team.

The well attended program was moderated by radio producer John O. Kollie of the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiative (LMDI), whose sense of humour attracted several other persons unto the ground of the occasion.

Miatta Kurteh, Deputy Director for Banking Services, noted that the engagement with citizens was intended to brief them on the security features of the enhanced banknotes and that mutilated Liberian dollar banknotes would be retrieved from circulation and replaced with the new ones. She also said that the CBL would mint coins in various denominations.

According to Kurteh, CBL is working with all commercial banks to be able to reach every part of the country for the distribution of the new banknotes. She however, rejected claims by some people that the CBL had sent moneychangers with mutilated banknotes on the streets.

On the contrary, she disclosed, the CBL created mini-windows where the general public is encouraged to carry all defaced or mutilated banknotes to be exchanged with the new banknotes.

Some of the CBL banking windows in the counties are opened to the public to exchange torn Liberian dollar banknotes, she said, adding that such an initiative is working well and the CBL has collected good quantities of worn-out Liberian banknotes in several parts of the country.

"The CBL wants to caution Liberian businesspeople not do business with torn money exchangers anywhere in the country," she cautioned the audience.

Describing the CBL's design choices regarding the new L$500 note, Kurteh explained that previous Liberian dollar banknotes all carried the portraits of past Liberian presidents.

"We decided this time around, as financial experts, to portray the pictures of a woman and elderly men in order to reflect the indigenous component of our society," she said.

Assistant Director for Banking Services, William Dargbe, disclosed that L$500 banknote was introduced primarily to enhance easy transport of money.

Members of the audience recommended that the United States dollars be withdrawn from the Liberian market and that the business community buy United States dollar banknotes only from commercial banks instead of using street vendors.

Mr. Dargbe said such a decisions are matters of policy and should come from the National Legislature, which has the sole authority to do so.

In an earlier welcome statement, Margibi County Superintendent John Buway assured the CBL staff of his administration's support to enhance the awareness initiative.

"I assure you that you are in safe hands and our people are looking forward to more of such financial matter interactions in many parts of our county," Supt. Buway said.

At the end of the interactive program, the audience expressed delight and urged the CBL to step up its activities throughout the country.

Source: The Liberian Observer

[Bimat]

Does this mean that a new series of coins is in pipeline?

Aditya

[Figleaf]

Liberia has been a basket case for so long that this is real news. Ellen Johnson, warts and all, has brought the country back from collapse. May it now forget its lethal colonial history and tribalism and not be in the news for a few decades.

Peter

[chrisild]

Does this mean that a new series of coins is in pipeline?

Maybe so, but keep in mind that both the Liberian Dollar (LRD) and the US Dollar (USD) are legal tender in Liberia. 1 USD is about 90 LRD. Don't really know how much sense new LRD coins would make ...

Christian

[Bimat]

By the way, the new Liberian banknotes can be seen here.

Aditya

[Figleaf]

Indeed, chrisild, but that is the background of my bubbling enthusiasm. Having their own currency would make sense only if 1) the economy was getting back on its feet and 2) their own currency would be generally trusted and accepted. Ellen Johnson worked at the World Bank, so you may assume she has the connections to get pro advice on these questions. If the two questions get a positive answer, those are powerful positive omens. When the time has come, re-introducing the Liberian currency makes sense, as it captures the seigniorage that would otherwise flow to the US.

Peter

[eurocoin]

Since the news about the new banknotes, I was wainting until a newsarticle appeared about new coins.
This is very interesting. The last circulating coins that were issued by Liberia were issued back in 2000.
At the time they only minted the 25 and 50 cents coins. These were minted at The Royal Mint.

[Pabitra]

When the time has come, re-introducing the Liberian currency makes sense, as it captures the seigniorage that would otherwise flow to the US.

Seigniorage?
With limited requirement, there are mints who will be happy to make them free provided the nation permits them to sell sets in the international Numismatics markets. Apart from 5 Dollar ( KM#44) minted in 1982 and 1985, all the coins of Dollar and above have been single year mintage, minted for gullible collectors and have never been seen or put in circulation in the country.
So for all practical purposes, the country can look for 100% seigniorage.

[Figleaf]

Authorities at the Central of Liberia (CBL) have assured the public that it would shortly reintroduce coins to ease the situation of smaller change on the local market.

Don't you think that means circulation coins, rather than fluff, Pabitra? I doubt that a nationwide issue can be financed with the sale of sets.

Peter

[Pabitra]

Would depend on denominations to be issued.
First time issue ( or issue after a long time) means Government issuing very small denominations, just to fill in the blanks.
Nigeria and Ghana had issued a series of circulation coins which were of no use since you could barely buy any thing even with the highest value coin.
Liberia too has had a high inflation in recent years, aftermath of Ebola epidemic.
By the time the coins are issued, they wil be useless.


Wait for the issue and see.
Zimbabwe bond coins are already out of circulation and notes will reappear soon.

[Pabitra]

New notes issuance has started.

See

http://www.yesafrica.biz/markets/currency/65885/liberia-central-bank-of-liberia-puts-new-banknotes-into-circulation

[eurocoin]

Things have become a mess in Liberia with the central bank involved in a scandal that has gripped the nation. At the end of February police raided the central bank. The deputy central bank director (son of a former Liberian president) and director of banking have been arrested. Furthermore the house of a former governor of the central bank was raided and he was arrested too. 100 million dollars (5% of Liberia's GDP) worth of banknotes were initially reported missing from the central bank's vault. Liberia asked the US to investigate the case. They found discrepancies in in every stage of the process of banknotes entering and leaving the central bank. The Central Bank for example needs authorization of the national legislature if they want to order the printing of new banknotes, which they did not have on numerous occasions. Furthermore payments were made to currency printer Crane without there being any information what these payments were for.  83.5 million dollars have since been recovered but 16.5 million is still missing.

[eurocoin]

The Liberian Senate Committee on Banking and Currency, has adviced the Liberian Senate to approve the printing of Liberian dollars banknotes with denominations of L$20, L$50, L$100, L$500, L$1000, and coins with denominations of L$1, L$5, and L$10 as proposed by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL). The denominations of the coins equal respectively 0.4 euro cent, 2 euro cents and 4 euro cents.

Immediately after the reading, Margibi County Senator Oscar Cooper, sharply reacted to the Committee's report, wondering why the CBL requested to print L$35 billion of the new currency, while there currently is L$21 billion in circulation. According to him the Governor of CBL has not properly explained why they want to produce L$14 billion more than is currently in circulation.

After the missing L$16 billion saga, "this money will fall on the Liberian people if not managed properly. We as committee members did not have due diligence to debate this within the committee. If this Senate votes to approve this L$35 billion, we will put the Liberian people in serious, serious financial jeopardy, because many financial and economic questions have gone unanswered."

"Whatever we are doing now must be done with due diligence so that posterity can be kind to us; so colleagues, please let the Committee take this report back, and bring it to us after our return in January," Senator Abe Darius Dillon recommended.

The Senate legal mind, Senator Varney Sherman, a lawyer by profession, recalled suggesting to President George Weah during his meeting with the Legislature months ago, that as long as the Liberians continue to believe that, "some of our money in places that they don't know, especially outside of the banking system, they will not have confidence in our money, and that lack of confidence alone impacts the value of the Liberian dollar. I suggested then at that moment that we ought to change all cash in circulation and replace it with new notes, maybe that suggestion had an influence of what has come to us today."

Sherman accused members of the Committee of some fundamental issues it did not consider, such as the suggestion to produce coins, of which he said that the cost of doing so would be higher than the face value of the coins.

"I will vote against L$1000 banknotes and coins. How do we have control if we allow them to keep L$35 billion in their vault? I am afraid that the Liberian people will not judge us well when they look at our immediate past history, as to how we managed L$10 billion, and then we tell them that we want to print L$35 billion," Senator Sherman warned.



In doing so, Liberia seems to admit that they do not expect to any time soon be ready for the introduction of the common Eco currency which the ECOWAS plans to introduce next year.

[eurocoin]

After extensive debates, the Senate has declined to give the requested authorization for the minting and printing of the new currency until the restructuring of the Central Bank of Liberia is complete.

[Pabitra]

Authorisation to issue coins likely soon

?No Expressed Authorization to Print New Money Yet? | Liberian Observer