Greenland rejects new national currency

greenland-flagGreenland will continue to use the Danish krone as its currency after the ruling government declined to adopt the National Bank’s new printed notes. Speaking in the latest parliamentary session Juliane Henningsen, political spokeswoman for the Innuit Ataqatigiit Party has said that the government will introduce a proposal to clarify its position on the currency debate.

Henningsen claimed that the decision was made based on what was determined to be the most useful for the country, suggesting that the National Bank’s new notes were essentially for decoration, SIKUnews reports. Henningsen added that given the notes are not able to be used outside of Greenland, they will only present difficulty.

In 2008 a proposal by the then government made it possible for Greenland to begin producing its own banknotes, a move which was welcomed by the previous premier Hans Enoksen. However, since that time the release of the new currency has been repeatedly delayed and the new banknotes complete with iconic Greenlandic imagery will not be seen until 2011 at the earliest.

Parliamentary debate on the issue was limited as the autumn session opened. The Greenland debating mandate states that only 30 minutes is allowed for members to discuss any proposals put forward by spokespersons, and that each question and answer may not be greater than two minutes. However, Tuesday’s session saw Henningsen remain on the platform for over two hours as the debate continued.

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