State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that old-design currency notes of Rs10, 50, 100, and 1,000 are exchangeable till December 31, 2022, 24NewsHD reported Tuesday.

These old-design banknotes can be exchanged from the counters of SBP BSC offices across the country until the mentioned date. 

In other words, these currency notes are exchangeable from SBP BSC Offices located at Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Hyderabad, Sialkot, Sukkur, Bahawalpur, Muzaffarabad and D. I. Khan. 

After December 31, 2022, these canceled banknotes will be non-returnable, said SBP, adding that ensure the exchange of old bank notes within the stipulated period to avoid loss of capital.   

It is pertinent, SBP collects soiled and unfit banknotes from the market and replaces them with fresh currency notes. Like other central banks, SBP issues new series of banknotes from time to time and demonetizes the earlier series with the approval of the Federal Finance Ministry. 

The issuance of new series and demonetization of the old design banknotes helps central banks in checking counterfeiting and ensuring the integrity of banknotes in circulation.

The new series of banknotes was issued from 2005 to 2008 and the old design banknotes have been slowly phased out from circulation. The government has therefore decided to demonetize old design banknotes of Rs 10, 50, 100 and 1000. These notes have ceased to be Legal Tender effective from 1st December 2016.

Reporter: Ashraf Khan