India’s central bank has taken a concrete step toward introducing polymer currency, with its note-printing subsidiary issuing a global expression of interest for 68,000 reams of specialised plastic substrate. The tender, which closes on 18 August, seeks biaxially oriented polypropylene sheets embedded with security features for an initial pilot of two denominations, widely reported as Rs 10 and Rs 20. The Reserve Bank of India frames the move as a response to the rapid deterioration of paper notes in the country’s varied climate, citing annual withdrawals of nearly 200,000 damaged notes, and points to the longer lifespan and advanced anti-counterfeiting windows of polymer notes already in use across more than 50 countries.

The procurement process has drawn sharp political criticism. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav accused the government of attempting to privatise a sensitive sovereign function, alleging the tender is a formality masking pre-arranged deals. His intervention highlights a deeper anxiety in India about outsourcing currency production, even as the central bank imposes strict eligibility and security conditions: bidders must have at least three years of experience supplying central banks, must ring-fence any operations in China or Pakistan, and must not source raw materials from those countries. The political pushback reflects a broader question of public trust when the physical embodiment of state-backed value changes form.

A parallel search for trust is unfolding in Iran, where the central bank has unveiled a “special foreign-currency certificate of deposit” designed to channel household dollar holdings into productive investment. The instrument promises repayment of principal and profit in foreign currency, guaranteed by a bank. However, an economist at the University of Tehran told local media that the main obstacle is not the structure but a deep public mistrust born of past failures with forex deposits and capital markets. Many Iranians, he noted, hold dollars not for return but to preserve value against domestic risk, making them reluctant to lock funds into long-term projects.

In Argentina, savers are already voting with their portfolios. With inflation projected at 30% for 2026 and fixed-term deposits offering only 17–20% annually, market analysts in Buenos Aires report a decisive shift away from digital wallets and bank deposits toward inflation-linked bonds and dual bonds that pay the better of inflation or a reference rate. The move reflects a pragmatic search for real returns in an economy where official rates lag price rises, and it underscores how households recalibrate when conventional instruments lose credibility.

The next factual marker for India is the 18 August bid deadline, after which laboratory testing of substrate samples will precede field trials. A wider rollout, if trials succeed, is not expected before 2027. In Iran, uptake of the new certificates will be closely watched as a gauge of confidence, while Argentine markets will track the central bank’s next rate decision for signals on the real return environment.