Bye Bye Penny?
Posted May 27, 2010 08:36:42 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The old saying is a penny for your thoughts, but the Senate Finance committee has been asking people for their thoughts on the penny.
And, the committee has heard some strong arguments for consigning Canada’s ubiquitous copper coin to history.
The strongest may be that it costs about a cent-and-a-half to make a cent.
Pierre Duguay, deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, says if the penny were ditched and prices rounded up to the nearest nickel, the impact on inflation would likely be “non-existent.”
Duguay also notes that since 1908, the penny has lost 95 per cent of its purchasing power.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says for retailers, the penny is a nuisance and it’s probably time to get rid of it.
Australia and New Zealand have already dumped their penny coins — New Zealand in fact has also dropped its five-cent piece.
