Why cash is treated with suspicion in the coronavirus era – The National

Why cash is treated with suspicion in the coronavirus era – The National

Why cash is treated with suspicion in the coronavirus era. Businesses and individuals across the globe have stopped using physical currency for fear it could spread the virus. People have been known to hoard currency at home - a financial security blanket against deep uncertainty.. In the midst of the coronavirus era, a thousand calculations are made before cash is handled - mostly with gloved hands.. Some leave the money laid out on surfaces for days, for the virus to die.. "Cash," Mr Cohle says, "now carries an extra stigma".. But for much of the rest of the world, letting go of cash is difficult if not impossible.. "Currency represents value that we can hold in our hands.. Cash provides a way for us to translate a day's work into something tangible and easily traded," Mr Cohle says. ". The belief in "cash is king" reigns, though the country has had zero interest rates for two decades, far longer than the rest of the developed world.. In Lebanon, as the economic situation deteriorated late last year and the fear of banks collapsing mounted, many people began saving cash in their homes.. As banks imposed capital controls, trips to the