00:00 Dr Valmiki Arjun expresses cautious optimism that the new 100-dollar note will make it
00:06 difficult for criminals to replicate and counterfeit.
00:10 He adds that it is expected to carry new modernized security features like special watermarks,
00:17 holograms and micro-printing.
00:20 An additional bonus, he says, is it will disrupt the cash flow of criminal enterprises.
00:25 It can help to curb certain activities in the underground economy, in the parallel economy.
00:32 What it does is eliminate a sizable portion of what economists call black money or cash
00:38 that is received from the illegal activities in the drug trade, terrorists financing human
00:44 trafficking, gang-related activities, selling ammunition and guns, prostitution, etc, etc.
00:50 Dr Arjun says when the new notes arrive, the idea is that people with sizable sums of 100-dollar
00:57 notes go to the banks and exchange them, but they will be required to declare a source
01:04 of funds.
01:05 He explains that if the said individuals are unable to do so, the bank can red-flag and
01:11 seize the currency or refer it to the Financial Intelligence Unit.
01:16 However, the economist says criminals may be able to evade that.
01:22 "The fly in the ointment is that December, when they've indicated they're going to roll
01:28 out these new notes, December is quite some time from now.
01:33 It's about eight months from now, especially if you're counting April month.
01:37 So what it does, it gives the holders of these illicit finances, these black monies, a window
01:42 of opportunity to launder these funds and launder the physical assets like land, property,
01:47 gold, jewellery, cars, art, etc, etc.
01:50 So over the course of this year, many of these illicitly earned funds might attempt to spend
01:55 it off quickly on these types of long-term assets, then tangible assets."
02:00 He notes with concern the chaos that ensued in 2019, the last time the central bank changed
02:07 dollar bills.
02:08 He says if there is a short window like on the previous occasion, there is the risk of
02:14 small businesses losing customers due to the rush to exchange notes at the bank.
02:20 Dr. Arjun says the process in fact removes money temporarily from active circulation.
02:27 Additionally, he tells TV6, measures should be put in place for people who earn money
02:32 legally but do not utilise the services of banks.
02:37 Some of these individuals, however, like these set individuals working on a day-to-day basis
02:44 receiving payments in cash, they might not be able to produce a source of funds for the
02:48 bank, even if the monies were not illicitly earned.
02:50 And they will probably be saving up this money for a few years.
02:54 Many retirees tend to do that as well.
02:56 So the commercial banks in conjunction with the central bank, they have to make some accommodations
03:00 for these persons so that if they ask for a source of funds and they can't provide a
03:06 source of funds adequately, that they don't lose their monies in the process because there
03:10 were reports of similar instances happening back in 2019.
03:15 Nicole M Romani, TV6 News.
03:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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