More than 20 municipalities have already expressed their desire to have their own currencies, points out Sebrae Minas
In an interview with Brasil 61, Marcelo de Souza e Silva, president of the Deliberative Council of Sebrae Minas, highlighted that the initiative has caught the attention of mayors in the state and other parts of the country.
“If I’m not mistaken, up to 25 municipalities have already contacted Sebrae wanting to carry out the procedure — and another 30, 40 municipalities have asked for prior information so they can study the project. If you add that up, there are more than 50 municipalities in Minas Gerais that were interested. Other than that, there are about 20 other municipalities in Brazil that saw the news and want to know what it’s like”, he details.
After Resplendor, the municipality of Mato Verde, also in Minas Gerais, will be the next to implement a local public currency.
Sebrae’s objective is to observe how municipal currencies will be received by commerce and citizens in less populous municipalities and then, if the initiative is successful, expand it to larger cities.
“We are going to monitor this with a lot of feet on the ground, so that we can propagate this issue of local public currency in other municipalities, seeking to use this money much more effectively, generating wealth in the municipality”, he projects.
Strengthening the local economy
The launch of municipal public coins is one of the entity’s strategies to strengthen the cities’ internal economy. The idea is that with the adoption of a local currency — accepted only in the municipality — and the offering of benefits by merchants to those who use the banknotes as a form of payment, such as discounts and cashback, residents prefer to consume where they live rather than go to other cities.
“It is a currency that will circulate in the city, valuing the city’s people and valuing those who invest there in the city, those who buy in the city with different prices and this differentiated movement has the very clear objective that this wealth generated in the city stays in the city and encourage economic and social development there”, explains Marcelo.
According to the Secretary of Economic Development of Resplendor, Wender Barbosa, Ubérrima has been well accepted by traders and residents of the municipality. He says that, in addition to promoting the development of the local economy, the currency itself has attracted people who live in neighboring cities.
“I believe that the currency is already fulfilling its objective, because as it is not mandatory, the law does not say that I am obliged to keep the currency, we are not getting any return. It is circulating. We already have residents of other municipalities that are already coming to exchange reais because of the discount in stores. ‘Since I buy it there, I’m going to buy the currency from you, because I’ll get a discount in several stores'”, he says.
The local public currency has the same value as the real. In the case of Resplendor, a huge price is worth a real. The backing, or guarantee, for the issuance of municipal currency is the currency used throughout the country. Thus, for each penny in circulation in the municipality, the city hall has to store the equivalent in reais in a monetary fund.
The cities of Conselheiro Pena and Padre Carvalho are also in the process of creating and approving their own currency, according to Sebrae Minas.
By Brasil 61
