In a shocking turn of events, a government has gotten its math wrong. Weird, eh? That never happens.
So what went wrong this time? Well, it seems that the savings we can expect from getting rid of pennies are about $7 million less annually than Jim Flaherty said they would be, at least over the next six years.
Honestly though, I can’t be mad at this. The country is still saving money and we don’t have to use pennies as cash anymore. We still win, just a little slower than anticipated.
Here’s how the math works.
It’s expected to cost $53 million to pay the banks for the face value of the coins, as well as another $27 million in handling and administration costs by the Royal Canadian Mint.
Recycling the zinc and copper from melted-down pennies will bring in about $42.5 million in revenue, leaving the government in the red at just over $38 million.
Adding the $11 million in annual savings from not minting any more pennies gives the government annual savings of almost $4 million per year.
