Central banks have a statutory right to issue banknotes - that is, functioning as a debtor for notes in circulation. The face value of notes in circulation is recorded as a liability on the central bank's balance sheet, matched by a corresponding asset, usually interest-bearing government securities. In other words, the public provides an interest-free loan to the central bank, which in turn invests these funds. The resulting income is known as seigniorage. As the sole providers of a product