"Not Going Home Due to COVID"… Bank of Korea Says "New Currency Exchange Half of Last Year"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] Ahead of this Lunar New Year holiday, the amount of new bills exchanged by citizens at the Bank of Korea counters was only about half of last year's level. This appears to be due to fewer visits to hometowns caused by social distancing guidelines amid the spread of COVID-19, resulting in fewer occasions to give New Year's money.

According to the Bank of Korea on the 10th, from the 28th of last month until the day before, the number of cases where citizens exchanged bills for new money at the Bank of Korea's issuing office counters was approximately 3,320. Even including the day immediately before the Lunar New Year holiday, this is expected to be only about half of last year's exchange performance (7,090 cases) during the 10 business days before the Lunar New Year holiday (January 24?27).

The amount of money circulated in the market during the 10 business days before the Lunar New Year holiday also decreased compared to last year.

The net issuance of currency supplied by the Bank of Korea to financial institutions from January 28 to February 10 was 4.7475 trillion KRW, down 881.4 billion KRW (15.7%) from the same period last year. Net issuance is the amount issued by the Bank of Korea minus the amount returned to the Bank of Korea's vault. The Bank of Korea calculated the net issuance by adding the supply performance from January 28 to February 8 and the expected supply amount for February 9?10.

During this period this year, the Bank of Korea issued 5.0183 trillion KRW in currency, and the amount recovered was 270.8 billion KRW.

The Bank of Korea explained, "Although the three-day Lunar New Year holiday period was the same as last year, net issuance decreased compared to last year due to refraining from hometown visits under social distancing during the holiday and the prohibition of private gatherings of five or more people."

The net issuance decreased particularly in the metropolitan area (Issuing Office -20.6%, Incheon Headquarters -41.2%, Gyeonggi Headquarters -25.1%) and Gyeongnam Headquarters (-22.1%). Jeju Headquarters (107.9 billion KRW → 113.7 billion KRW) was the only region nationwide where net issuance increased compared to last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.