ISLAMABAD:
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is planning to redesign all bank notes, incorporating modern security features, and is also considering introducing plastic bank notes on a trial basis, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad said.
Ahmad told a parliamentary committee that the SBP board had finalized designs for all the new faiths and forwarded them to the federal government for final approval, which is now awaited. He added that modern technology will be incorporated into the design of the new banknotes.
Ahmed clarified that there was no proposal to withdraw the Rs5,000 note. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Langrial said forgery of high-value notes could destabilize the economy.
However, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization Saleem Mandviwala noted that the matter was now closed following the governor’s assurance.
The committee also discussed SMS fees applied to ATM transactions. Mandviwala said consumers are charged for SMS alerts. The governor explained that mandatory alerts are free, while fees only apply to additional service messages.
He added that the fees are collected directly by the telecom companies and the SBP does not receive any share. He further revealed that SMS fees charged by telecom companies have increased from Rs 0.04 to over Rs 4 per message in the last two years.
