China’s central bank (PBOC) has issued a statement denying rumors that a ?2 trillion note has been privately printed.
Chen Yaoming, director at the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, is undergoing disciplinary review after suspected “serious violations of discipline and law.”
Rumors have been circulating in China that the disciplining is because “it is suspected the ‘same number banknote’ was printed privately for 2 trillion yuan.”
“This is a rumor,” PBOC said. “The printing and issuance of RMB has strict working procedures and technical standards, and the People’s Bank of China has been carrying out relevant work in accordance with laws and regulations. Our bank has severely condemned the spreading of rumors and has reported the case to the public security organs.”
In trying to further refute the rumor, a Chinese state media outlet says 100 million yuan in cash is about one ton, a train carriage is about 60 tons. Printing 2 trillion yuan amounts to 333 train carriages. “Where did he get so much paper and ink, and where did he hide so much money after printing?”
However in theory PBOC can just print one piece of paper that says one trillion, or better still they can just enter that number on a spreadsheet with this rumor coming at a time when there is more and more talk of China starting to loosen its monetary policy in light of a property collapse.
As such, although a 2 trillion yuan note is probably unlikely, this rumor reaching such prominence that PBOC has to refute it may indicate some people in China are expecting or speculating that bazooka money printing might be coming to stimulate the economy.
