It is amazing our banking system is unaware that the UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
LAHORE: I travelled to the UK recently to attend the graduation ceremony of my daughter in Northern Ireland. On my return, I went to my bank to redeposit in the bank account the pound sterling left with me. I had two types of pounds with me; one was the English pound sterling and the other was the Northern Ireland pound sterling. Both are called UK pound sterling. I was surprised to learn that my bank, as well as the adjacent banks and the nearby money changers all failed to identify the UK pound sterling issued from the treasury of Northern Ireland. I could not deposit the same in my bank account and had to give them to a friend going to the UK for exchange of currency notes if possible. It is amazing that our banking system is unaware that the UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The three constituents of the country issue the UK pound sterling of their own and all three are perfectly legitimate currencies.
Also, I learnt that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued instructions to all banks and money changers not to deal in old or worn-out foreign currency notes. Let me assure the honourable governor of the SBP that by ordering so, a new door for money laundering has been opened and this instruction will not help anyone, except miscreants. I hope someone from the SBP or the relevant government quarters will read this and do something about it.
Abdul Basit
Published in The Express Tribune, July 16th, 2015.
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