The city of Kyjov in the southeast part of Czechia will launch its own currency, called ”corrent”, in a project designed to help local companies affected by the closures imposed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, AFP reports.
People of Kyjov will receive money that they can spend in local shops, restaurants or cinemas.
This new currency name is the result of a merger between the words coronavirus and currency.
In a pilot project, 2,000 volunteers from Kyjov will each receive 400 corrents, the equivalent of 400 Czech crowns (15 euros) that they will be able to spend in the shops, restaurants and cinemas that take part in this project.
When making payments, customers will cover half of the amount in corrents and the rest in Czech crowns.
”Every citizen will have an electronic wallet. The trader will use an Internet site on which he will write the citizen’s code and will cut the amount in the corrent”, explained economist Pepe Rafaj, who designed the project in March last year while in quarantine.
