BI Warns People of Counterfeit Money as Ramadhan Approaches

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In the coming month of Ramadhan, people are advised to be cautious on the distribution of counterfeit money. Based on the data released by Bank Indonesia (BI) on June 18, 2014, there are 44.586 cases of counterfeit money discovered. Meanwhile on May 2014, around 5,760 cases of counterfeit money were discovered.

Governor of Bank Indonesia Agus Martowardojo had previously warned the public that the distribution of counterfeit money will increase nearing Ramadhan and Lebaran. Based on BI’s data, East Java is very susceptible to counterfeit money, where nearly 932 cases of counterfeit money were discovered. The number is considerably lower compared to the 1,296 cases discovered last month. The highest number of cases was recorded in March, nearing the legislative election with a total of 11,437 cases.

BI claimed to have done everything they can to deal with the issue, including applying periodic changes to the Rupiah bills design and establishing a Rupiah database capable of detecting counterfeit money instantly across Indonesia. BI had also educated traders to be more attentive in recognizing counterfeit money.

AYU WANDARI