SINGAPORE - The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is proposing to change the legal tender limit for coins and will seek public feedback before making its decision, it announced in a consultation paper on Thursday (March 16).

Legal tender limits refer to the maximum amount of a coin denomination that can be used for payment in a single transaction.

Under the Currency Act, the existing limits are $2 per denomination for five-cent, 10-cent and 20-cent coins, and $10 for 50-cent coins. There is no current limit for payment using one-dollar coins.

MAS is proposing a uniform legal tender limit of 10 coins per denomination in a single transaction for all denominations.

This means that a payer can use up to 10 pieces each of five-cent, 10-cent, 20-cent, 50-cent and one-dollar coins per transaction.

MAS said on its website that the main considerations for the proposed change were to keep the limit simple and easy to remember, to prevent acts of mischief as well as to minimise inconvenience and cost in handling large quantities of low denomination currency.

In coming up with the new limit, MAS also surveyed a random sample of members of the public and sought the views of various business associations.

"The limit of 10 coins per denomination strikes a good balance between the interests of payers, who would want to be able to pay with as many coins as possible and payees, who would want a limit on the number of coins acceptable for payment to minimise inconvenience to them," MAS said.

The public consultation will be held from March 16 to April 6 2017. More details can be found on MAS' website.