Dhaka: Officially local coins (paisa) of Tk 0.1, Tk 0.5, Tk 0.10, Tk 0.25 and Tk 0.50 denominations have not been withdrawn from the market, but their use has now become ‘non-tradable’, reports UNB.

According to both retail and wholesale traders, nobody wants to take the coins worth below Tk 1 (one) denomination.

‘Even, people are not interested to receive a coin of Tk 1 or Tk 5,’ said Saleh Ahmed, a 45-year-old grocer of Malibagh in the capital who had to face a lot of trouble with coins.

‘May be people want to avoid taking coins for its non-convenient haulage. That’s why they prefer receiving notes instead of metal coins,’ said another trader, Jahangir Alam, of Nakhalpara area.

The experiences of Saleh and Jahangir are not unique in any way. Most traders in retail market or wholesale one have to deal with the same situation. And this is even worse in rural areas. 

But, the government or the country’s central bank has not yet officially withdrawn any kind of coins of any value.

‘All coins of different values are still officially in circulation... may be the use of coins having the value of below Tk 1 has become very limited,’ said Bangladesh Bank’s Executive Director Subhankar Saha.

He said there are coins of different values, worth about Tk 776 crore, in the market as those were released by the central bank on various occasions.

Of this, 80 crore pieces of coins of Tk 5 having the total value of Tk 400 crore, 80 crore pieces of coins of Tk 2 having the total value of Tk 160 crore, and 200 crore pieces of coins of Tk 1 having the total value of the same are now in circulation in the market.

Saha noted that as the country’s central bank frequently issues coins of these three types and also receives from the banks and other institutions.

But, the release of the coins of below Tk 1 (one) denomination remained suspended for last the 15-16 years although those are not officially declared non-tradable. There are coins of below Tk-one denomination, which are valued at Tk 16 crore, but it is not clear how many pieces are now there.

He said there is no intention from the central bank to declare these coins obsolete or non-tradable. Even the government has no such a decision.

‘If the government or the Bangladesh Bank wants to move to declare them non-tradable, then it needs amendment to the existing currency law.’

The official said it is unfortunate that when the use of coins is very popular in developed countries and even in neighbouring India and Pakistan, people in Bangladesh are losing their interest in their use.

‘The lifespan of a Tk-1 denomination or 2 in our country is maximum 5-6 months while that of a coin is 5-6 years,’ he added.

The central bank officials acknowledged the trouble with the use of coins by traders and also by some banks who do not want to trade with coins.

After receiving huge complaints in this regard, they said, the central bank issued a circular on January 11, asking the banks to trade with coins of Tk 1, 2 and 5 denominations as per customers’ requirement.

In the circular, the central bank warned that if any bank fails to comply with the directives, it has to face punitive actions as per the country’s Bank Company Act.

In the existing provision mentioned in a central bank circular issued by its currency department on November 12, 2015, each branch of a bank must have a deposit of 10,000 pieces of coins of Tk 1, 2 and Tk 5 denominations, while big branches 30,000 pieces to respond to the customers’ need.

According to the central bank officials, a rumor of withdrawing all coins is there in the market and it may dampen the interest of mass people to use coins. ‘A comment of the Finance Minister might have worked in this case,’ said a central bank official.

Though the demand of coins of different values is declining in the currency market, their demand is rapidly growing in the antique and souvenir markets.

‘Especially, non-defected coins of one paisa to 50 paisa are treated as blue chips in that market. Sometimes we buy one paisa at Tk 15-20,’ said a trader in the country’s antique and souvenir market.

Mostly foreign buyers look for such coins, he added.