The PHP20 paper bill will be phased out and changed into coins (get it?!) starting in 2020, the government office responsible for producing the country’s money announced yesterday.
In a statement released yesterday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that the coin version is “more cost-efficient in terms of currency production” based on an undated study by the University of the Philippines, which found that the PHP20 banknote is the most-used paper money in the country. As a result, many PHP20 bills end up tattered and unusable, and have to be sent back to the central bank for replacement.
Official photos and specs of the PHP20 New Generation Currency (NGC) coin will be presented by BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno at its December launch. The BSP has said the coin will “retain major elements of the 20-Piso banknote,” and promised that the design will be easily distinguishable from the rest of the NGC Coin Series.
The new additions to the NGC Coin Series will also include an “enhanced” PHP5 coin, which will make it easily distinguishable from the PHP1 coin. Since the two coins were released last year, Filipinos have had a hard time telling them apart thanks to their very similar designs.
Read: Filipinos are not happy with new coin designs released by the central bank
Once the new NGC Coin Series is released in 2020, the PHP20 banknote and the old PHP5 coin will be gradually removed from circulation.
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