The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has bid out the purchase of a P2.6-billion printing machine with a deadline set for the end of this month.

The BSP was intending to conduct negotiated bidding for the new printer but the Monetary Board ordered that the transaction be open to a bidding instead. According to sources, the budget for the printing was P2 billion but a negotiated bid was estimated to cost around P4 billion.

The bid documents were released last October. The papers signed by the BSP legal counsel indicated that a pre-bidding was set last December 4. The bids will be announced later this week.

The central bank will buy a set of printing equipment for bank notes, which would include an offset press, intaglio press, numbering and finishing press.

Sources said the BSP earlier invited currency printers and papermakers to participate in the bidding including Switzerland-based KBA-Giori and Komori of Japan.

The same sources said the Monetary Board has had to clarify its decision on the open bidding since parties close to the BSP governor’s office had been pushing for Giori.

Giori, formerly De La Rue Giori, is 50 percent owned by German printing company Koenig & Bauer. De La Rue prints the UK currency and is considered to be one of the world’s largest commercial security printer and papermaker. Komori, in the meantime, is an exclusive printer for Japan ’s National Printing Bureau and for the Ministry of Finance.

In September 2007, the Monetary Board approved the purchase of two P2-billion “superline” money printing machines which would replace its 31-year old banknotes’ printers in its printing factory in Quezon City.

The BSP is upgrading its money facility because it wants to limit the outsourcing of printing banknotes.

The BSP’s yearly cash order is one billion pieces however in 2009, the central bank said the demand was higher and will exceed one billion. Since the current printers are only capable of printing one billion banknotes, the excess is outsourced, which is very expensive for the BSP.

The superline – which is a complete money printing machine – is capable of mass currency production of more than one billion banknotes a year at a faster rate.

It will replace two printers – circa 1976 and 1981. Although the BSP already prints one billion banknotes per year, it needs to upgrade for more efficiency.