BSP: 2B new notes in circulation, 400M old ones left

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas officials continue to encourage the public to exchange their old currency notes for new ones especially since there are still an estimated 11 percent of these old pieces of currency still in circulation in the country.

According to the BSP, as of Aug. 31, 2015, there are already 2,197,662,504 New Generation Currency (NGC) pieces in circulation, amounting to P706,660,032,110.00 while there are still 447,041,951 pieces left of the New Design Series (NDS) in circulation, amounting to P72,974,977,230.00.

“We are basing it on how much is deposited back to us by the banks and through the tellers, said acting BSP Regional Director Leonides Sumbi yesterday.

“What we have received back to date is less than 5 percent of our total money deposited in Cebu,” she said

“So if it is less than 5 percent, fewer NDS notes are in circulation. But we cannot know for sure how many notes are still being kept by the people.”

Deposited notes are not recycled by the BSP, officials said.

These are shredded, and may be used as a source of secondary fuel.

The NDS bank notes can still be used until Dec. 31, 2015. However, starting Jan. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2016, these notes can only be exchanged for the

NGC and can no longer be used to purchase items.

From Jan. 1, 2017 onwards, the NDS bank notes lose their value and are demonetized completely.

Sumbi said that the demonetization campaign in Cebu province is still around 70 percent, with the bulk of the remaining 30 percent coming from the far-flung areas in the province such as Santander town in the south and Bantayan town in the north of Cebu.