NZ: Singapore central bank encourages going green with “hong bao”
SINGAPORE, Jan. 10 — Singapore’s central bank is encouraging the people to go green with the notes used for “hong bao” ahead of the Lunar New Year.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Thursday that it is issuing “good-as-new” two-dollar notes, which are retrieved immediately after the Lunar New Year, along with brand new ones, which are usually more popular for use as the lucky money.
In Singapore, a city state where over 70 percent of the population are Chinese descendants, it is a popular tradition for people to give the younger ones a red packet or “hongbao” as a sign of best wishes and good luck, often with a note of 2 Singapore dollars (1.64 U.S. dollars) in it.
The central bank prints and issues 100 million 2-Singapore- dollar polymer notes to the banks each Lunar New Year, which is about twice the amount of notes required to meet normal circulation demand.
The Monetary Authority often accumulates and destroys excess 2 Singapore dollar polymer notes before the end of their lifespan. It said this is a waste of resources and is not environmentally friendly.
“MAS estimates that printing the excess 50 million 2-Singapore- dollar notes uses more than 200,000 kWh of electricity,” equivalent to powering up one public housing block for six months, and consumes 10 tons of ink, it said.
