MANILA >> The Philippine central bank is appealing to the public to stop hoarding coins, saying the habit is forcing it to mint more money at a high cost.

Deputy bank governor Diwa Guinigundo lamented on Sunday a shortage of coins in the country and noted that some Filipinos drill holes in coins and use them instead of more costly tokens for video games in violation of laws.

He says other people keep change and later give it to charities. The hoarding is hurting monetary authorities, who have to spend at least 4 cents for every coin that is not used.

He says the central bank would save millions of dollars if there were more coins in circulation.