Notes exchange may be extended at a risk: PM

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, August 28, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has indicated moves to have central bank extend the acceptance paper notes for exchange for the sake of the rural and elderly populace - however, cautioned of the risk involved in exchange to polyester notes.

He was responding to a query by Deputy Opposition Leader and Member for Bulolo, Sam Basil, who called for consideration for the elderly populace in rural areas that may have saved significant amounts of notes such as K20s at their homes only to find they cannot be tendered.

“This morning before I got on a plane, an elderly woman gave me K1000 worth of paper notes for me to change, but I have tried it before with some people from home giving me to change at BSP, all the other commercial banks and the Central Bank who all rejected them,” Mr Basil said.

“People in the village they go to market, keep their money in the pillows or suitcases because there are no banking facilities in the villages.”

“When the Central bank decided to change from paper notes to polyester notes it conducted a awareness campaign in the media from newspapers and TV ads (advertisements) which all people in the towns and settlements have seen, but in the rural places they have no access to radio, television, even the newspaper.”

“I think it is fair that that money, I ask the prime Minister if he can ask the Central Bank to allow those paper notes from rural people to be exchanged for plastic notes, because all those monies are floating around and it is unfair as they have earned those monies.”

The PM concurred with the Member that despite some notice, the elderly in villages may not be aware of the decision to trade in paper notes for plastic notes.

But he also warned on the outset that there was evidence of a large chunk of fake K20 notes being transferred around by organised groups trying to trade back to the Central Bank.

“In some locations I have been briefed that large amounts of money which we believe are counterfeits- that is why the central bank has gotten a very strict control over the changing of the notes from paper to plastic,” the PM said.

“I will advise the Central Bank to try and see if he (they) can extend the period so that our old people in the villages can change those.”

“I’ll get the treasurer to handle that.”