On 18 September 2019, the Central Bank of The Bahamas (“CBOB”) announced that based upon a report from Secura Monde International(“SMI report”), it has submitted a proposal that The Bahamas join such countries as Australia, Canada, and Trinidad and Tobago, in removing the 1-cent coin (“penny”) as legal tender with effect from 31 December 2020 (“withdrawal”). Reasons for the withdrawal are based upon (1) poor circulation; (2) decrease in value; and (3) infrequent use by the public, resulting in the production costs of the penny exceeding its benefit. Electronic payments made by debit/credit cards would not be affected; however, as the 5-cent coin would become the lowest coin denomination, the withdrawal would affect cash payments. The CBOB has recommended “Rounding Rules” by which cash payments on the total bill would be rounded either up or down to the nearest 5 or 10 cents (e.g $10.22->$10.00; $10.28-> $11.00). It is expected that while the withdrawal is likely to cost approximately $2-3M, relative savings should exceed $7M over the next 10 years. Based upon the SMI report, it is unlikely that The Bahamas’ cost of living or retailers’ sales and profitability would be significantly impacted.”
