BOK replaces 640 mln damaged bills, coins in 2019

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- The number of banknotes and coins destroyed due to damage or contamination reached a 10-year high in 2019, with the face value of the damaged bills and coins growing slightly from a year earlier, the central bank said Wednesday.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it had to replace some 640 million banknotes and coins in the year, the most since 2009 and up 2.2 percent from about 630 million a year earlier.

The combined face value of the damaged money came to a little over 4.35 trillion won (US$3.75 billion), up from 4.26 trillion won in 2018.

A rise in the number of damaged bills and coins usually leads to an increase in costs to print fresh notes, but unlike in previous years the central bank did not provide the amount spent to replace the damaged bills last year.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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