Peso bills in circulation hit P799.9 billion as of August

CEBU, Philippines - The sum of peso bills in circulation as of August this year hit P799.9 billion, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed, with old bills accounting for less of the total now as a result of the central bank's demonetization process.

As of August there were roughly 2.6 billion pieces of both the old and new peso bills in circulation around the country.

The old notes, which the BSP is demonetizing, accounted for around 9 percent of the total money in circulation in terms of amount.

Of the total, around 447 million pieces were the old banknotes or known as the New Design Series (NDS), amounting to P72.97 billion. There were also 2.2 billion prices of new bills – collectively known as the New Generation Currency (NGC) – in circulation as of August, amounting to P706.86 billion.

The number of issued commemorative notes also reached 34,226 with total value of P80.9 million.

In a press briefing Tuesday, BSP-Cebu Acting Director Lawyer Leonides B. Sumbi said that for the last six months of public information campaign on demonetization, they had observed an influx of deposited old bills from banks.

"Most of those deposited by banks [to us] are the NDS notes," Sumbi said.

But this time, Sumbi said, NDS notes make up less than 5 percent of what the BSP receives from banks. She added the BSP still expects more old bills to be returned by banks until December. 

The BSP started early this year the demonetization of old peso bills to remove the currency's monetary value.

The old banknotes are only good for buying goods and paying services until December 31, 2015.

However, the public is given until December 31, 2016 to exchange the old notes with new ones in authorized agent banks and the BSP Cash Department. Starting January 1, 2017, old bills that have not been exchanged will no longer have any monetary value and will be considered demonetized. (FREEMAN)