Cabinet has approved a proposal to withdraw the one-cent, 10-cent and 25-cent coins from circulation.

Information Minister Ruel Reid told a post-Cabinet press briefing today that the move is pursuant to the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Act.

The Act stipulates that the BOJ shall have power, on giving three months’ notice in the Gazette, to call in any notes and coins on payment of the face value. On the expiration of the notice, such notes or coins shall cease to be legal tender.

He said those that would exist thereafter, subject to the central bank’s timeline for implementation, would be the $1, $5, $10 and $20 coins.

The Minister said the proposal to withdraw the coins came against the background of an assessment showing that the use of those denominations has been decreasing since 2005.

Details of a cost-efficiency assessment also showed that manufacturing costs consistently exceeded the face value of the coins, he said.

- business@gleanerjm.com