There have been a lot of rumors that State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is working on designing new currency notes. Many news outlets and social media pages have shared this information alongside pictures of completely redesigned new notes.
However, we can confirm that this news is completely false.
Abid Qamar, an SBP spokesperson, while speaking with ProPakistani, confirmed that these there is no truth to any news regarding a redesign of the currency notes. The spokesperson outright rejected the claims and said that no such thing has been under consideration at the State Bank of Pakistan.
The rumors started spreading after the central bank announced that old-design banknotes (which were used years ago) of Rs 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 would be phased out. Federal Government’s Gazette Notification on June 4th stated that legality of old notes would end from December 1st 2016. Rs 5 and 500 notes have already been decommissioned. The new notes started in 2005 with Rs 20 note and ended with the complete series of notes in 2008.
The new notes were launched to improve security, durability and aesthetic quality of the notes. The old notes will be accepted in all banks until 30th of November this year. After that, the notes will no longer function in any transactions. SBP Banking Services Corporation (BSC) will however continue to accept the old notes until December 31st 2021.
The rumors about the redesign started due to false reporting from some websites. They simply took concept designs of Pakistani currency and stated that they were the new designs under consideration. In that sense, not only was it dishonest and lazy reporting, it was also intentional creative misuse.
The designer in question is Shan Ul Haq. He designed the new notes as a concept project and never even had intentions of sending them in to SBP for consideration. The designs were shown off over two years ago but somehow came to headlines in recent weeks. It is advised to always take unconfirmed news without sources with a fistful of salt.
If you want detailed look into the designer’s concept currency note project click here.
