Pakistan won’t demonetise high-value banknotes: Finance minister
Pakistan, unlike India, will not demonetise Rs 5,000 notes or withdraw Rs 40,000 prize bonds, the finance minister said, rebuffing media reports.
Pakistan, unlike India, will not demonetise Rs 5,000 notes or withdraw Rs 40,000 prize bonds, the finance minister said, rebuffing media reports.
“These rumours are baseless and no such proposal is under consideration,” finance minister Ishaq Dar was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper on Monday.
Haroon Akhtar Khan, special assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday had said the proposal to discontinue currency notes and prize bonds of the highest denomination was “under consideration”, the daily said.
Khan said the proposal came from the Tax Reforms Commission before the 2016-17 budget but the final decision was postponed and a tax reforms implementation committee was asked to look into it after the budget.
Presently, prize bonds are sold and purchased against cash without recording any identification of the seller and buyer. These are also traded in the open market and remain a major source of fraud and illegal activities.
Pakistan Peoples Party senator Osman Saifullah Khan last week submitted a resolution in the Senate to demonetise Rs 1,000 and 5,000 notes to tackle corruption, citing the example of India, which withdrew Rs 500 and 1,000 denominations notes recently.
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