Money production cost rose 4.4. pct in 2016: BOK

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- The cost of producing South Korean money jumped 4.4 percent in 2016 from a year earlier as the country printed more 50,000 won (US$42) bills, the central bank said Monday.

South Korea spent 150.3 billion won on printing bank notes and minting coins in 2016, compared to 144 billion won in 2015, according to the Bank of Korea.

The BOK said South Korea spent 53.7 billion won to mint coins in 2016, down 200 million won from a year earlier. In comparison, South Korea spent 96.6 billion won to produce bank notes in 2016, up 6.5 billion won from a year earlier.

A BOK official said South Korea printed more 50,000 won bills -- the highest denomination bill -- in 2016 from a year earlier. He did not give further details.

The production cost of making money includes papers, ink and holographic technology meant to make it difficult to create counterfeit bank notes, the BOK said, though it declined to give any details on the actual costs of each coin and bank note.

Meanwhile, the BOK said it destroyed bank notes worth 3.39 trillion won in 2015 due to damage, compared to 2.98 trillion won from a year earlier.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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