As part of its plan to normalize circulating cash, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) has established that the 2-peso banknotes currently in circulation may be replaced in their entirety by coins of that denomination. For this reason, those who have these banknotes in their possession will be able to exchange them for coins in bank branches or deposit them in their accounts until April 30, 2018. As of May of next year, the 2-peso banknotes will be definitively invalid.
According to BCRA records, there are still 414 million units of this blue banknote circulating in the Argentine economy, which shows the image of Bartolomé Mitre on its back and was issued for the first time in 1992. To exchange it within the proposed period, the BCRA has the stock of 2-peso coins to supply the banks to a sufficient extent.
Likewise, the BCRA will continue to provide 2-peso coins directly to companies and chambers of commerce, through the delivery of drums with 100,000 coins (divided into 200 bags of 500 units), paid through bank transfers. Those interested in this service can contact operaciones.monedas@bcra.gob.ar for more information.
As it is the smallest denomination banknote, the 2-peso paper deteriorates faster than the rest of the banknotes. This difficulty will be solved with the replacement by coins, whose useful life is very long. As part of its plan to improve the quality of circulating money, at the beginning of this year the BCRA began a program to destroy deteriorated banknotes that allowed more than 900 million damaged or worn banknotes of all denominations to be removed from the economic circuit.
The total normalization of circulating money in Argentina is a process that will take several years and that, in addition to the withdrawal of the deteriorated cash, has included, among other measures, the adaptation of the family of banknotes to the needs of the economy, with values greater than 100 pesos, and the creation of the interbank exchange of banknotes through an electronic platform. This process is being developed in parallel with the expansion of electronic means of payment, one of the central management objectives of the BCRA.
