The State Bank says new currency notes are being designed with enhanced security features, while the Rs10 note will be gradually withdrawn due to its high production cost.
The federal government has decided to gradually phase out the Rs10 currency note, while State Bank officials told a parliamentary committee that the designs for new currency notes are currently being finalized.
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance was held under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla. During the meeting, the committee chairman said that two years ago he had given three Rs5,000 notes to the State Bank’s deputy governor, one of which was counterfeit, yet the bank officials had failed to detect the fake note.
He added that the State Bank had still not returned the three Rs5,000 notes after two years. His remarks prompted laughter among committee members.
Mandviwalla also criticized the pace of work on the new currency notes, saying that a design consultant had been awarded the printing contract. He remarked that the State Bank had been unable to prepare the new notes for two years and joked that its performance was even worse than that of the government.
State Bank officials said the Rs5,000 note was introduced 20 years ago and that a new design was now being prepared with the intention of using it for the next 20 years. They added that one proposal was to discontinue the Rs10 note because producing it costs more than its value.
Committee member Anusha Rahman questioned why the State Bank was not using artificial intelligence in the process. She also criticized the lengthy approval process, saying that the design had been sent to a Cabinet subcommittee for approval and could face further delays if changes were requested.
Mandviwalla quipped that at the current pace, the committee’s term could end before the new notes were even produced.
State Bank officials said the Cabinet committee was finalizing the designs for the new currency notes and that the Rs10 note would be phased out gradually. They added that new security features were being incorporated into the notes and that producing a Rs5,000 or Rs1,000 note costs Rs14.
The committee chairman again expressed concern that, at the current pace of the design process, the committee’s term might end before the new currency notes are issued.
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