Kalistan

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Finance Minister Eyes a switch in Currency
"Need to redesign gives us an opportunity," says Minister Berry
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
December 3rd, 5707


Dr. Roger Berry, Her Imperial Majesty's Finance Minister raises topic of changing Currency

At a monetary conference hosted by Her Imperial Majesty's Finance Minister ostensibly to begin the discussions of redesign of the Currency following the abolition of the Anantonese Empire, the Finance Minister Dr. Roger Berry raised a possibility of ditching the Ruble all together.

"Kalistan has had the Ruble for a very long time," said Dr. Berry, "but really it makes no sense for us to have a currency that is associated with Rodshyan speaking nations. It is certainly one of the lesser used currency names, and it really has nothing to do with Kalistani or Anantionese Culture. Perhaps it may be time to consider changing it." The proposal, while unexpected at the conference, was not unwelcomed, and it engendered a number of follow up questions by those attending.

What would switching involve?

"As Kalistan's currency is completely fiat currency, it would involve issuing new notes and recalling the old. The value of that currency is set by the central banking Authority, the Imperial Bank, who could determine an exchange rate of old currency for new, which would probably be at 1:1 for all Kalistani Nationals to maintain faith in the value of the currency and not encourage inflationary or speculative practices by the private sector."

And what of foreign investors:

"Kalistan tracks and carefully controls its monetary expatriation," the finance minister responded. "We happen to know that while the value of the Kalistani currency is exceptionally stable over long periods of time, roughly equaling specie due to very strict monetary supply and use policies as well as a strong discouragement against saving surplus money and a obsessively maintained annual surplus, foreigners do not tend to invest in Kalistani currency. The Tel Bira index which Kalistan was just finally listed in, only gives our currency an A+, while those with expansive and much more fluid, and therefore volatile markets, receive significantly higher grades. Assuming their criteria for evaluation is objective, we can agree that Kalistan, while maintaining its value and protecting against inflationary pressure better than specie, nonetheless has a less attractive international market prospect than some currency which is based on some other sort of criteria than currency controls, and so consequently, we don't frequently see many foreign investors holding Kalistani Imperial Rubles at this point. This actually suggests that now is a far more favorable climate to make a switch. Fewer foreigners would be affected, and the discount could be much closer to zero than it would be if we had to scrape up hundreds of billions overseas to trade it out for the new currency."

What would the new currency be called?

"We would need to convene another meeting that was not about how to replace the words 'Anantonese Empire' with some other phrase, but possibly complete redesign of the currency all together. I think we would want somethings. We would want the currency to be visually interesting, more like art with vibrant colors, than a functional bureaucratic paper which screams 'means of exchange!' in all caps. We'd want it to look distinctive, with personalities and images that represent Kalistan, and Kalistan only on them. We'd also want them to look unique: in the entire world, much of the currency looks like generic bank notes and all kinds of effort are put into avoiding counterfeit with like overlays and watermarks and magnetic strips and so forth. We will have all of those things too, but I think they would have to fit into the art work rather than stand out from it, so the things we need to protect our monetary sovereignty do not distract from the note itself. As for names we could pick anything, pound, reale, dollar and franc are all local options. Peso would be another one, which I would personally prefer because it ties much closer to our Suldanoran Culture than Ruble. And Valruzia uses the Peso. Ultimately, Her Imperial Majesty will make a decision on what the currency will be called."

Will the new National Assembly have a role in this discussion?

"Of course: They will be doing most of this work for Her Imperial Majesty when they reconvene next month."

Does Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress support a new currency?

"She does. She was noting during the discussions around the end of the Anantonese Empire that our currency also features a number of famous Kalistani Republicans, and while she appreciates our history, Kalistan has not been a republic for a very long time, and consequently, she would like to see money that reflects more of what our nation is about. She was set on keeping Nicolette The Great on the 100 note. That was her only request when we spoke, so whatever happens, Nicolette will remain on the largest denomination we will issue."

How do you imagine the process of redesign will take place?

"I will want to employ artists mostly. We'll have numismatists lined up and some cryptographers who have some interesting ideas about serial numbers. The redesign, when it happens will be a relatively large project and if we do change the currency, that will add an additional layer onto the while process. It will definitely be a multi year project."

Will there be roadblocks or challenges to adoption to the new currency whenever it happens?

"Not in Kalistan, abroad there may be some issues. We will cross those bridges when we get to them."

The Finance Minister concluded by saying that the redesign is in its very earliest stages, and whether it remains the Ruble or switches to something else, "Kalistan is still a few years away from being ready to exchange our old currency for new."

@TheRepublic