Fresh currency notes worth Rs360bn issued for Eid
Demand for currency notes this year was 50% more than what it was in 2017, according to SBP
June 17, 2018
As people seeks to collect crisp currency notes to distribute as Eidi, paper money worth Rs360 billion was issued across the country ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the demand for currency notes this year was 50% more than what it was in 2017.
The total booking limit of 2.7 million customers was also increased this year from 1.8 million last year.
SBP started issuing fresh currency notes to the public from June 1 for Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations.
The central bank in collaboration with the Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) set up SMS short code 8877 for issuing fresh currency notes, which were issued during June 1 to 14.
A notification issued earlier this month stated that people intending to get new currency notes would send message to 8877 along with their CNIC number and branch code of the selected bank. The system will respond with sending transaction number and branch address.
The SMS service was launched on May 31 and arrangements were made at 1,535 branches in 132 cities as compared to 1,018 branches nominated in 120 cities on last Eid-ul-Fitr in 2017.
SBP received a weighty response from public against SMS service (8877) as millions of requests were received countrywide for fresh currency notes.
The increase in service’s usage was seen due to increasing awareness of the public through social media and the availability of the mobile phone service, The News reported.
