More 'good-as-new' S$2 notes for Chinese New Year this year

Channel NewsAsia 22 Jan 15;

SINGAPORE: More "good-as-new" S$2 notes will be available for the coming Chinese New Year to meet an anticipated increase in demand, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Thursday (Jan 22).

These "clean and crisp" notes were retrieved immediately after the previous Chinese New Year in 2014. Both new and good-as-new S$2 notes will be available at participating retail banks from Feb 2, it said in its press release.

According to the MAS, 14 per cent of the S$2 notes issued during the 2014 Chinese New Year were good-as-new notes, a 3 per cent increase from the year before. This allowed the MAS to maintain the quality of brand new S$2 notes issued last year.

Mr Low Kwok Mun, MAS Assistant Managing Director, said: "Since the 'good-as-new' S$2 notes were introduced in 2013, the total energy saved from printing less new notes is equivalent to that needed to power 100 4-room HDB flats for 10 weeks. With greater awareness and support for this initiative, we can achieve even more this year.”

Sustainability consultancy Green Future Solutions also expressed support for this initiative. Its director Mr Eugene Tay said: "This is a great initiative by MAS to encourage the use of 'good-as-new’ S$2 notes for ‘hong baos’, which helps to reduce the printing of excess notes, thus preventing wastage and saving resources.”

- CNA/ac