BSP, MONETARY BOARD RUSHING THE PRINTING OF NEW CURRENCY

 What many of us -- in the media and the private sector -- have been warning about is furtively coming to pass.

Despite the many calls for full disclosure and transparency in their “New Generation Currency Program”, the BSP and the Monetary board are proceeding and rushing the Implementation of the program, with grave consequences with respect to costs and to national sovereignty and secufrity in the printing of the the nation’s money.

MISTAKE-PRONE PRINTER WINS BIDDING FOR PRINTING OF NEW RP CURRENCY BANKNOTES

Last August 31, 2010 the BSP conducted an official bidding for the printing of the New Generation Currency banknotes.

Put up for bidding was the printing of all six denominations of the new currency,

The printing will be for following notes and corresponding volumes:

 20-piso     --     206 million pieces

 50-piso     --     116 million pieces

 100-piso   --     300 million pieces

 200 piso   --       20 million pieces

 500-piso   --       30 million pieces

 1000-piso --       30 million pieces

      Total        702 million pieces

There were five private printers invited to the bidding

All from Europe:

Oberthur of France

G& D of Germany

Crane and Enschjede –letter of regrets

Orell Fusli of Switzerland

Delarue of United Kingdom

CEBS   -- no advice, no show

Oberthur won the bidding for the printing of all six denominations

It posted a a bid of Euro 21, 371, 480 million (US$ 28.14 million). In pesos, this amounts to P1,257 billion

With the winning bid of 21 million Euro, security experts predict that the total cost of the new currency to the country will be  Euro100 million or US$140 million or P6.1 billion. This is because The BSP will need 3.5 billion pieces of the new banknotes over a three-year period.

Significantly, Oberthur is the same currency printer that made the hideous  mistake of misspelling the name of President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo in its printing of the Philippine 100-peso banknote. It misspelled her name as “ARROVO.”

Delarue, which offered to originate for free the new generation currency and was commissioned by the BSP to do so, lost out completely in the bidding.  It bid only for he printing of  the100-piso banknote for EURO 12.672 million.

Delarue has been the subject of controversy and concern because of quality problems in the printing of banknotes. Its stock has fallen in the stock markets, and its CEO has resigned.

NOT A SINGLE BANKNOTE OF THE NEW CURRENCY WILL BE PRODUCEDD BY THE BSP SECURITY PRINTING COMPLEX

Most alarming, not a single banknote of the new cutrrency will be produced by the Security Printing Complex of the BSP, which was built at a cost of billions for the purpose of showing the sovereignty of the Philippines in the printing and minting of its money.

Because of BSP neglect in the upgrading of the SPC printing facilities and technology, the SPC  will just be an onlooker while Oberthur makes billions from the printing of the nation’s money.

Who benefits from this appalling situation? Obviously the printers.

And those who have a vested interest in their business.

The country loses twice in this deal. We pay billions for the printing of our money. And we lose face in leaving this sovereign task in the hands of strangers and aliens.

PUBLIC STILL HS TO SEE THE NEW CURRENCY THAT WILL BE SPRUNG ON THEM IN DECEMBER

With the new currency banknotes slated for distribution and circulation in December, the Filipino public, the private sector and the banking community still has to see what the new generation notes look like And to be told why it’s so necessary and urgent that the nation should rush a total makeover of its money.

The BSP started this new currency project only in March 2009.

In contrast, the US makeover of its currency and banknotes has been already ten years in the making.

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