Earlier this year, the Belgian Treasury launched a #spendyourchange campaign encouraging citizens to use their loose change, following warnings from several key trade federations in Belgium of an artificial coin shortage.
With more than 4.2 billion coins currently in circulation in Belgium, with an estimated value of over €1.5 billion, the country is not lacking in spare change physically. However, many of these coins remain unused – whether lost down the back of sofas or stored in jars, for example – and retailers have reported issues with providing change that they do not have to customers.
In a joint statement issued two years ago by financial groups Febelfin, Comeos, and Unzio, ‘hoarding’ of 5, 10, and 20 cent coins was noted as a particular issue. Although the 1 and 2 cent coins are still valid as a means of payment in Belgium, cash rounding to the nearest 5 cent was introduced in 2014 and made obligatory for cash purposes as of 1 December 2019. The lowest denomination euro coins are therefore in use even less as a result.
In addition to the issue of coin availability, or lack thereof, production costs typically increase as more coins are minted to cover the deficit. The Belgian state has estimated that it could save more than €5 million in production costs each year if just 2% of these unused coins were recirculated. Not to mention environmental savings as an additional benefit – a reduction in emissions from minting and transporting coins, for example.
Whilst the campaign largely focused on spending the coins, Belgians have also been encouraged to deposit or donate them, as alternative options to ensure greater collection and ultimately recirculation of coinage.
As countries seek new methods to boost efficient coin circulation – including Hong Kong’s coin cart collection programme, the Philippines’ coin deposit machines, and India’s QR code-based coin vending machines – it may be time to consider more robust programmes, such as the above, to ensure that coin is reliably where it needs to be as and when it is required.
