Overview
- Governor Jameel Ahmad told senators the redesigned notes for all denominations have cleared the SBP board and were forwarded to the federal cabinet.
- The central bank plans a phased introduction after approval once minimum inventories are built, declining to specify which denominations will appear first.
- A trial of polymer currency is under review as part of the modernization effort to strengthen durability and anti-counterfeiting safeguards.
- Reports of withdrawing the Rs5,000 note were rejected by the SBP, while the FBR cautioned that any tampering with the high denomination could unsettle the economy.
- In parallel, the MPC kept the policy rate at 10.5% and lawmakers probed rising fees for optional SMS banking alerts, with telecom charges said to have jumped from Rs0.04 to over Rs4.