In a latest revelation, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has proclaimed in a statement that round about 1.6 million people have applied for fresh currency notes through SMS service. Subsequently, 40% of the people have already received the fresh currency notes from the designated branches.
In a statement issued on Friday, the SBP said:
“Given the capacity of (designated) bank branches to handle customers, the central bank expects that the service will reach its maximum limit of bookings in a few days. Consequently, further bookings will not be possible thereafter”
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To cater the public demand for fresh currency notes for Eid-ul-Fitar, the SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC) initiated the SMS short code-based service (8877) this year as well. The service began from 12th June. Last year, SBP had issued new currency notes worth a massive Rs249 billion. In 2015, the issuance was worth Rs154 billion.
One could get hold of the currency notes from 1002 commercial bank branches and state bank offices across 120 cities of Pakistan. Moreover, the fresh currency notes can also be received from 16 field offices of the SBP BSC across the country. SBP issued a statement saying:
“This service has once again attracted overwhelming response from the general public”
20th June is the last date to apply for fresh currency notes
The general public has been informed by the central bank that this service will be closed once it reaches its maximum limit. The last date to apply for the fresh currency notes is 20th June. Nobody would be able to receive the booking code after the given date.
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However, people would still be eligible to receive fresh currency notes until the closure of the business on 23rd June. This is, however, conditional to the validity of the booking code sent to the customer.
It is noteworthy to state that SBP has provided adequate quantity of fresh currency notes to the banks. Therefore, the banks will continue to provide these notes to their customers either via branch or through ATM.
