No plan to withdraw Rs5,000 note: SBP

ISLAMABAD:

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is planning to redesign all currency notes, incorporating modern security features, and is also considering introducing plastic currency notes on a trial basis, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad has said.

Ahmad told a parliamentary committee that the SBP board has finalised the designs for all new denominations and forwarded them to the federal government for final approval, which is now awaited. He added modern technology will be embedded in both the design of the new notes.

Ahmed clarified that there is no proposal to withdraw the Rs5,000 note. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Langrial said tampering with the high-denomination note could destabilise the economy.

However, the chair of the Senate's Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatisation, Saleem Mandviwala, remarked that the matter is now closed following the governor's assurance.

The committee also discussed SMS charges applied to transactions via ATMs. Mandviwala said consumers are being charged for SMS alerts. The governor explained that mandatory alerts are free, while charges apply only to additional service messages.

He added that fees are collected directly by telecom companies and the SBP does not receive any portion. He further revealed that SMS charges by telecom companies have increased from Rs0.04 to over Rs4 per message in the past two years.