Para, a hundredth part of a dinar, is something like a zombie. It has long ceased to exist as a coin, but it is still counted. Why?
You haven't been able to pay 99,99 for something in a long time dinars. The cashier will simply say, "Hood, neighbor."
In any case, you can't pay with cash until the last penny. Para was minted from copper as early as 1778, but it does not exist as a coin today.
Why? Well, mainly because there is no money to mint money.
"National Bank of Serbia abolished coins in pairs due to the high production costs compared to their nominal value, as well as the fact that inflation devalued such small amounts," explains Svetlana Popoviฤ, professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.
Money exists and does not exist.
But don't lie down, the law still says that the monetary unit in Serbia is the dinar, which is divided into hundred money. Fiscal cash registers must also be such that they round to the second decimal of dinars, that is, to a couple.
"Money is still present as a unit of account, so all relevant regulations should be changed for its abolition, which is a complicated process, and currently it is not in anyone's focus," says Professor Popoviฤ for our Meฤuvreme newsletter.
A few years ago, Tanjug asked the institutions why we still count in money that does not exist in cash. And they encountered the famous catch-22 syndrome.
Namely, the National Bank (NBS) stated that it is not competent to round off prices. The Ministry of Trade is also not competent, and the Ministry of Finance is competent - NBS.
"If we were to introduce rounding, fiscal cash registers, fiscal, accounting and software systems would have to be adjusted, which entails certain costs," says Popoviฤ.
Thus, steam exists and does not exist at the same time. If it is paid by card, then it is still alive and well. If it's paid in cash, then round it up, we're human.
Changes in the mint
Changes in the coinage system came when the National Bank of Yugoslavia was transformed into the National Bank of Serbia. Since 2003, coins of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 dinars have been minted.
Not all the youngest examples of coins are still in circulation. In March, Forbes Serbia announced that the NBS is issuing a new 1 dinar, while the new 2 and 5 dinars have not yet reached our pockets.
The 50-para coin has not been used since 2008. But what if someone had a sack of coins of 5, 10, 50 pairs in the basement or pantry? Well, nothing.
We asked ลฝeljko Jelic from the Serbian Numismatic Society if these unusable coins could be donated to them. He says that a donation is possible, but that the specimens have no particular value.
He adds that the only option for the currency to gain importance again is to move the denomination by two decimal places, which was done during inflation. The famous erasure of zeros that is not in sight and hopefully never will be.
The National Bank of Serbia does not receive such donations either, unless it is a matter of cooperation and exchange with other banks, according to the Visitor Center.
Traders still like money, says professor Popoviฤ, because it sounds better when something costs 99,99 dinars than 100 dinars.
"If the price is not round, but slightly below a certain figure, it has a psychological effect on the customer, who perceives the product as cheaper."
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A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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