A notification is making rounds on social media, declaring that the Rs. 5,000 currency note is being discontinued with effect from 30 September 2023.
However, the Fact Checker account of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) has termed this news as fake and baseless, stating that it is not only unethical but also a disservice to the nation.
Disseminating #FakeNews is not only unethical and illegal but it is also disservice to the nation. It is the responsibility of everyone to reject irresponsible behavior. Reject #FakeNews pic.twitter.com/bfrLn0b2Io
— Fact Checker MoIB (@FactCheckerMoIB) September 7, 2023
In addition, there have been no official statements from the Ministry of Finance or the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on this matter. This implies that the Rs. 5,000 currency note will continue to be in circulation in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Rs. 5,000 currency note was introduced in Pakistan on 27 May 2006.
Earlier this year, a top energy economist, Ammar Khan, suggested demonetising the Rs. 5,000 note, which is the highest banknote in circulation in Pakistan.
He said that a similar demonetization strategy worked well and improved tax collection in India when it stopped the circulation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes.
In November 2016, India demonetized its currency by removing Rs. 500 and 1,000 notes from circulation.
Its goal was to eliminate black money, but multiple reports revealed that the move did not achieve its intended objectives, even though digital transactions increased during and after the demonetization period.
USD in 2007 was 60 PKR, today it is 300 PKR, so Rs 5000 in 2007 had the same power as Rs 25000 today.