NORTH KOREANS USING CASH COUPONS

Money coupons manufactured by North Korea's Central Bank are proliferating throughout the country, NK News has independently confirmed, as the DPRK's COVID-19 pandemic controls reportedly cause cash printing problems.

An informed source told NK News that the coupons — which photos show come in a 5,000-won denomination, printed with red ink on white paper — have been pumped out due to a shortage of North Korean won bills, confirming past reports on the presence of these coupons on the streets of Pyongyang. Asia Press reported that the coupons began circulating around the end of August.

Peter Ward, a North Korea economy expert and a contributing analyst to NK Pro, said the existence of the money coupons could also relate to recent capital controls.

??This might look like North Korea has just run out of ink and paper, but at a time when the economy is believed to be in great difficulties and household purchasing power is depressed, the need to print new won in such a form is probably a consequence of the closure of the border and aggressive government moves to curtail the use of forex on domestic markets that have driven up demand for won notes, he said.

Ward added that the development is another reminder that the DPRK economy is not in good health. If they are not careful they might overshoot in their money printing and start driving up inflation again like the country last witnessed from 2001-13, he said.

To read the complete article, see:
North Koreans using cash coupons as country struggles to print new bills (https://www.nknews.org/2021/10/north-koreans-using-cash-coupons-as-country-unable-to-print-new-bills/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web