The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not involved in the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision to release new currency notes, the bank’s deputy governor Saleem Ullah said on Thursday.
During an appearance on the Geo News show “Geo Pakistan,” Saleem Ullah stated that fresh notes are produced every 15 to 20 years in order to preserve their integrity.
Throughout the discussion, the deputy governor insisted that the new monetary policy would cause the deficit to decline in the upcoming fiscal year.
The nation’s central bank announced earlier this week that it planned to introduce new banknotes within the next two years, making it clear that the current series will continue to be in circulation following the introduction of the new ones.
Regarding the most recent series of currency notes, Saleem Ullah stated that they were released in 2005 and were in circulation for three years.
“The first note will not be issued for around two years. It is a drawn-out procedure.”
He continued by saying that cutting-edge technology will be used to print the new money.
The deputy governor revealed specifics of the State Bank’s intention to solicit ideas for the design of the currency notes and added that public feedback has also been gathered.
“There are 21 prizes total—three for each of the seven denominations that are available. Rs. 1 million is the first award, Rs. 500,000 is the second, and Rs. 300,000 is the third,” he continued.
The public will have easy access to exchange their new currency notes at any of the 17,000 branches throughout the nation once the process of distributing them starts.
“The account will get new cash notes. The use of old banknotes will gradually end.”
