Rs75 banknotes now available

Rupee makes fresh gain, closes at one-month high at Rs227.29 against greenback

KARACHI:

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced that the commemorative banknote of Rs75 is now available for the public at its offices along with all commercial bank branches, and people may use it as a legal tender for settling payments nationwide.

“The new commemorative banknote of Rs75 is now available for the general public at all SBP offices and branches of commercial banks. This banknote is a legal tender and can be used as a medium of exchange for all transactions across Pakistan,” the central bank said on its official Twitter handle on Monday.

The central bank issued the green-coloured banknote to commemorate Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day. It has images of four national heroes on its front and was issued under the signature of the newly appointed SBP Governor, Jameel Ahmed.

The design of the note was unveiled on August 14, 2022, during a ceremony at the SBP headquarters in Karachi. “The commemorative banknote has been designed to pay tribute to the leaders contributing towards the creation of Pakistan. It also strives to create awareness about climate change and its impact on our environment,” said the central bank. Accordingly, the obverse of the banknote is graced with the portraits of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.

“The reverse of the banknote highlights our national commitment towards climate change and its repercussions for Pakistan, which has gained added urgency in the light of unprecedented loss caused by the recent torrential rains and flooding in large parts of Pakistan,” the central bank stated.

“The images of the national animal, the Markhor and the national tree, Deodar, on the reverse also highlight the danger of extinction of such species and the need to preserve them,” SBP noted. Meanwhile, the value of the domestic currency continued to appreciate against the US dollar on the seventh consecutive working day in the interbank market on Monday.

The rupee made a fresh gain of 0.51% (or Rs1.16) to close at a one-month high at Rs227.29 against the greenback. With this, cumulative gains recorded at 5.18% (or Rs12.42) in the past seven days. The rupee has maintained an upward momentum in the wake of exporters converting the foreign currency into rupees on the promising outlook for the domestic currency.

When Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that his “top priority was to strengthen the rupee,” traders who were long, started to sell. Similarly, exporters started selling forwards in significant amounts.

However, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have continued to drop to stay around the critical level of $8 billion. The US dollar has also continued to strengthen against other global currencies.

“The Pakistan forex market is still under developed and lacks liquidity, is highly regulated and is within a few hands, and therefore can be controlled and/or manipulated. A fair price, therefore, is just a myth,” said the SBP.

Prior to the uptrend in the current cycle, the domestic currency had devalued around 12% (or Rs25) in the prior 15 successive working days to close at Rs239.71 against the greenback.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2022.

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