MONEY making money where does your cash come from?
by laura secorun
Money is the lifeblood of a country’ s economy. However, even states need transfusions. A surprising number of them choose to get their currency printed abroad.
According to the World Bank, of the world’ s 171 currency-issuing authorities, around 50 per cent outsource the production of some portion of their currency. For example, 20 countries including Bangladesh, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Romania and Vietnam get their bank notes printed by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
firm Giesecke & Devrient provides for 60 countries.
Crane, a printing firm based in Sweden and Massachusetts, is the second biggest company in the sector but the world’ s largest commercial banknote printer is De la Rue, in the UK.
Since it was founded, the company has been contracted to produce 150 different national currencies.“ We usually print money for states that do not have the infrastructure to do so or when their needs surpass their capability,” says Rob Hutchison, communications director of De la Rue. jessamyn west epsos. de
This is because Australia was the first country in the world to implement plastic bank notes. The so called polymer notes present several advantages: they allow greater security against counterfeiting and last four times as long as conventional paper notes.
Outsourcing does not only apply to paper cash. The UK’ s reticence to enter the Eurozone does not stop the Royal Mint from helping produce euro coins.
“ We do occasionally help with the production of the Euro; when needed,” says Jenny Manders, an employee of the Royal Mint.
Governments are not the only ones involved in the currency-outsourcing business. Between 10 and 20 per cent of the world’ s cash is printed by private companies. The Canadian Banknote Company, established in 1987, takes orders from 20 countries while the German
Over the years, it has handled several delicate situations. In 2003, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the company took over the production of the new Iraqi dinar, financed by the government of the United States. The company also continued to print money for Colonel Gaddafi in Libya while Prime Minister David Cameron was trying to isolate the regime in 2011.
“ We still print notes for Libya but I am not allowed to discuss more about certain countries,” Hutchison says, when asked about Iraq.
Indeed, many aspects of this international currency industry are a complete mystery. In addition to keeping their client lists under lock and key, these companies never share how they transport billions in cash from their warehouses to central banks abroad. Nor will they say how much they charge for printing a bill.
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