OT: Canadian money to become plastic, coins will be steel next year
A view of Canadian money
The Canadian federal government announced in its budget that paper Canadian currency will become plastic and have new security features next year. Its $2 and $1 coins will also receive new changes.
Ottawa, Canada - On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government announced in its budget that its paper currency will go plastic by late next year, according to the Globe and Mail. The plastic notes will also contain high security features to ensure that the $10 and $20 bills last longer.
The Bank of Canada will replace the nation’s cotton-paper bank notes with a tough polymer that are meant to last two to three times longer. The money will be waterproof as well, so if you wash your money in the laundry then it won’t be a big deal, reports The Canadian Press. However, the Bank of Canada has not revealed the details on the specific technology.
This latest measure is designed to avoid counterfeiting, which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police say there were more than 141,000 counterfeited bills found worth $3.3 million in 2007, reports the United Press International.
Australia was the first nation to use plastic money and a spokesperson for the Bank of Canada, Julie Girard, believes it’s a very good investment on the part of the federal government.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also announced that the nation’s $2 and $1 coins will be replaced with steel instead of the predominantly nickel-based.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/288564
Canada rolling out plastic money in 2011
Next year our neighbors to the north are releasing two new bills made with plastic fibers that will last longer and cut down on the spread of germs.
Fri, Mar 05 2010 at 4:25 PM EST
It's impossible to live a modern existence without plastic. It's everywhere (including our oceans.) It's in our clothes, packaging, furniture, bedding, and even our food and medicine. Next year Canadians can add their money to that list; the Canadian government announced today that it would be replacing cotton $10 and $20 bills with plasticized versions in 2011.
The new bills are expected to last three times as long as the all-cotton bills and won't absorb oils and sweat from our hands. Australia, Mexico, and 21 other countries have already made the switch — the Mexican 20 peso note is made up entirely of polymer fibers, others are a blend of plastic and natural fibers. Thailand experimented with a plastic note but dropped it after Thais complained about the bills colorfastness and tactile handling.
This seems to be a good application for plastic — it's displacing cotton, a terrifically resource-intensive crop to grow, and is nearly assured to be kept out of the litter stream because, well, it's money. No one throws money away, at least in the classical sense. When plastic bills get too old to be of use they are taken out circulation and (hopefully) recycled.
What do you think? How would you feel if we made the switch to plastic-infused money?
And ...
Central bank of Canada stands ready to inflate currency in response to strong loonie
August 25, 2009
Canada remains on track to resume growth this quarter, Deputy Governor says, but surging dollar renders rebound fragile
Bank of Canada deputy governor Timothy Lane said “persistent strength” in the loonie could derail the country’s recovery from recession and signalled the central bank is prepared to weaken the currency if necessary.
“If a stronger dollar were to alter the path of projected inflation relative to that presented in our July Monetary Policy Report, we would need to take that into account,” Mr. Lane said in a speech at the Canadian Association for Business Economics summer conference in Kingston, Ont., Tuesday.
“As we have said before, even though we are at the effective lower bound for our policy rate, we retain considerable flexibility through the use of unconventional monetary policy instruments, including quantitative easing.”
The remarks – Mr. Lane’s first in public since being named to the policy-setting Governing Council in February – are the central bank’s strongest yet in a series of comments about the potentially harmful affects of a surging dollar that date back to June.
Mr. Lane’s speech, which was released on the Bank of Canada’s website, marks the first time the central bank telegraphed that a rising currency could trigger a program of quantitative easing, which would involve the central bank creating new money to buy government debt.
“Other things being equal, a persistently strong Canadian dollar would reduce real growth and delay the return of inflation to target,” Mr. Lane said.
Read the full speech
http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/speeches/2009/sp250809.html
Canada’s dollar gained 7.9 per cent in July, the second biggest monthly increase on record, and climbed above 94 U.S. cents earlier this month, the highest in more than 10 months.
The currency was trading lower – at about 93 U.S. cents – for the first time in six days before Mr. Lane spoke as oil prices declined in New York. The loonie dropped further after Mr. Lane’s remarks were published at 12.45 p.m. (ET), according to Bloomberg News.
For now, Mr. Lane said Canada’s economy remains on track to resume growth this quarter, which the central bank first when it updated its economic outlook in July.
Canada is getting a lift from “signs of a nascent recovery” of the global economy, especially China, where domestic demand is boosting prices for raw materials, and in the U.S., where gross domestic product should grow this quarter, Mr. Lane said.
More specifically, the future looks bright for Canada because the U.S. rebound heralds increased demand for some of this country’s biggest exports: automobiles and automotive parts and lumber, Mr. Lane said.
Canada’s “well-functioning” financial system means there should be plenty of credit available to allow companies to take advantage of the global rebound, and households, businesses and governments are relatively free of debt.
“While the outlook is clouded by uncertainty, there are encouraging signs that we will return to positive growth this quarter,” Mr. Lane said.
The central bank predicted in July that GDP will expand at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent in the third quarter after shrinking 3.5 per cent between April and June.
Still, Mr. Lane maintained the Bank of Canada’s position that the rebound is fragile.
Along with the currency – which is rising because of higher commodity prices and because speculators are seeking alternatives to the U.S. dollar – the central bank continues to worry that the rebound is too reliant on rock-bottom interest rates and trillions of dollars in stimulus spending.
“While these policy actions have been timely and effective, they imply that the incipient recovery depends to a considerable degree on official action,” Mr. Lane said. “At what stage will private demand be robust enough to make the recovery self-sustaining? Clearly, we haven’t reached that point yet.”
http://statismwatch.ca/2009/08/25/central-bank-of-canada-stands-ready-to-inflate-currency-in-response-to-strong-loonie/
Canadian economy improving, currency a risk - IMF
G20 to talk currencies, 'moral hazard' - Canada
and the (U.S.) have ~
April 21st in a special ceremony to debut a new design to the Hundred-Dollar Bill ...
This Week - February 5th-6th -2010 - Canada to press G7 finance ministers to fix their banks, reform financial system
June 26-27-2010 -The G20 Meets in Toronto, Canada
http://articlesofinterest-kelley.blogspot.com/2010/03/canadian-currency-will-become-plastic.html
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