Rp 334 billion worth of bank notes destroyed

Between January and August 2009, the Denpasar branch of Bank Indonesia (BI) destroyed more than Rp 334 billion worth of damaged bank bills, equating to nearly 25 percent of the total cash send by commercial institutions to the central bank.

The branch deputy chief, Wijoyo Santoso, said Thursday that as of Aug. 19, commercial banks across the island had sent Rp 1.4 trillion to the central bank.

"From that figure, 23.7 percent had to be destroyed because the notes were damaged and could not be used for any commercial transactions," he said.

Every day a machine automatically sorts and identifies damaged bills.

"Every BI branch office has this machine, which operates at a consistent level of sensitivity nationwide," he said.

The amount of damaged notes this year, he added, was significantly less than in 2008.

"In 2008, the damaged notes totalled Rp 1.2 trillion, or 47.6 percent, of all the total cash acquired by this branch," he said.

Most of the damaged notes were of the Rp 1,000 denomination and came from banks operating in the island's rural and coastal areas such as Buleleng, Negara and Karangasem.

"These areas are populated mostly by farmers and fishermen," he said. The quality of the materials used to print the bills significantly affects the shelf life of the currency.

"The paper used for printing the Rp 1,000 note is different to that used for Rp 10,000 note. The first has a shelf life of one year while the latter lasts up to three years," he said.