Discontinuation of Rs5000 currency note proposed by Senate body

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance has presented a proposal to withdraw the Rs5,000 currency note to combat corruption and inflation in the country

The proposal was introduced by Senator Mohsin Aziz of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). It was discussed during the Senate Standing Committee meeting.

Senator Aziz said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is using the high-denomination note to support the cash economy.

Moreover, the body adopted a proposal to restrict non-filers from operating current and savings accounts and allow them only to use “Asaan Account” bank accounts.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), earlier, had clarified that the designs shortlisted for the new currency notes were not the winners of an art competition that was announced on September 5.

In January this year, the SBP had held an art competition to generate thematic design concepts for a new series of banknotes that marked the beginning of the redesign process.

The designs for the new currency notes are being created by  multinational companies, which were selected through a competitive process.

The central bank confirmed that the goal of revealing the art competition results was to acknowledge the artists’ efforts and provide them with financial rewards.