LIBERIA – The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has disclosed it will by next week begin the infusion of coins on the Liberian market.
The bank said it is in possession of 58 million pieces of minted coins which are in the tone of L$452, 900, 000 and in the denomination of five and ten dollars.
Making the disclosure Wednesday on State Radio, CBL Senior Director for Economic Policy, Christopher Wallace, and William Jlopeh, Director on Banking, noted that the CBL will begin the process with the supply of the coins to commercial banks.
Mr. Jlopeh noted that the coins have security features like banknotes, indicating that the bank is currently conducting a validation process of the coins.
Mr. Jlopeh added: “We need to verify with the editors to make sure what we requested is what we have. We will be through with the validation process today and that won’t really take us long like the banknotes, because the coins don’t have too many security features as compared to the banknotes.”
According to him, the validation process will last for two days, and that next week, the CBL will definitely release the coins for trading.
“We are going to infuse the coins through the commercial banks,” Jlopeh said, adding, “For the hard-to-reach areas, the CBL is putting mechanisms in place to make sure that the coins reach all of the people in the rural areas.”
According to him, the counties that don’t have commercial banks will be fed through the rural financial institutions that are working with Afriland Banks.
For his part, Mr. Wallace said the CBL will make use of its Regional Hub in Gbarnga, Bong County to help alleviate the high constraints that some of the institutions experienced during the infusion of the banknotes some time ago.
Mr. Wallace also clarified that the legal tender status of coins were never diminished or gotten rid of, except for the coins produced by former President Samuel Doe.
According to him, those that are considered legal tenders, are the ones no government or regime declared as non-legal tender.
“The ten cent, twenty-five cent, and the fifty cents are still Liberian monies. The commercial banks have some in their possession, and they are being asked to bring them to the CBL so that they can be exchanged,” Mr. Wallace said.
He cited that the exchange will be done based on equal value, and assured that there will be no depletion of any banknote that is taken for exchange, except the “Doe Coins.”
He said, for example, “If someone takes or assembles these coins, the 10 cents or five cents when the value reaches the minimum we have in the economy, which is L$5, it will be exchanged for its value.”
However, the authority said that both the old and the new banknotes will be used for now as the CBL withdraws the old ones from the market permanently. LINA
