February 15, 2005
In Taiwan, as in the rest of the ethnic Chinese world, along side all of the food and family of the Lunar New Year season comes red envelops, gambling, year-end bonuses and spending sprees. Though credit cards have already become indispensable for many spenders here, cash is still king, and it would hardly be auspicious to hand out red envelops stuffed with dirty old bills.
The increased demand for crisp, clean cash during the holiday season leads to an interesting annual spike in the volume of circulating cash. Preliminary estimates released by Taiwan's Central Bank of China indicate that up to
NTD 350 billion in new notes were issued in the run-up to this year's season, accounting for nearly one-third of all cash in circulation. What's more, this year's increased issuance boosted the total volume of circulating bills to a record high
NTD 1.2365 trillion on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
To put this in a perspective all in the Taipei area are now proud to appreciate, if all of this
NTD 350 billion in new money were in the denomination of
NTD 1,000 bills and stacked, it would form a column 69 times as tall as the Taipei 101 building, which at 508 meters (1667 feet) tall is currently the world's tallest building.
(United Daily News)
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