A KOPECK TO KOPECK: THE CENTRAL BANK OF RUSSIA INTENDS TO COLLECT COINS FROM THE POPULATION

The Central Bank announced the imminent start of a pilot project to collect coins from the population. So far, it is planned to organize it in one of the regions, where there is a low return of coins from circulation. In case of positive experience, the project will be expanded to the whole country.

The problem of returning coins has become aggravated in the context of the pandemic, when people began to use systems of electronic payments. Despite this, the demand for the coins remained, and the Bank of Russia had to order new lots.

Last year, the number of issued coins reached 1.3 billion rubles.

It is planned to collect money through special machines. It should be added that such equipment already exists and is used, but it does not show high profitability: a small face value of a coin gives a relatively high commission.

It is curious that with an increase in the turnover of cash, the number of non-cash transactions usually increases as well. According to the Central Bank's calculations, in five years, the volume of cash in Russia may be in the range of 13.6-16 trillion rubles. Thus, the volume of cash in circulation could grow by 19.4%. At the same time, the Central Bank is not confident that the funds withdrawn by people during the pandemic will return back to the bank.