Local money project to launch

A PROJECT to stimulate a regional economy using local money will be launched at the end of the month.

The group Collectif Montreuil en Transition is creating its own notes, the pêche which will only be accepted by local businesses.

The currency’s name was chosen as peaches are a symbol of Montreuil, a town in the Parisian suburban department of Seine-Saint-Denis.

A total of 70,000 notes will be printed in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 peaches.

So far around 30 local businesses, and the town’s mairie, have signed a contract saying they will accept the new currency which comes into circulation on November 30.

“The aim is to encourage the real economy, instead of all this tax havens, and the local economy in response to globalisation and the waste of energy,” said Bastien Yverneau, a member of Collectif Montreuil en Transition.

The project has received €50,000 from the regional council.

Local money ventures have been tried, with varying degrees of success, in other parts of France such as Roman-sur-Isère, Angers, Toulouse and Finistère.