Pakistan’s federal cabinet approved a Rs10 coin to replace the existing Rs10 banknote on Wednesday, alongside new designs for the country’s currency notes, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Decision touches everyday cash for millions of people, because the Rs10 note is one of the smallest and most widely handled denominations, and the change follows the State Bank of Pakistan’s warning that printing low-value notes has become increasingly costly.
Cabinet took the decision at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on November 4, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister’s Office statement said.
Meeting was given a detailed briefing on the new currency notes, according to the statement, after proposals were invited from artists and designers across the country and a cabinet committee consulted stakeholders before finalising its recommendations.
Redesigned notes will carry stronger security features to prevent counterfeiting and will use modern materials intended to extend their working life, the statement said, as reported by Geo News and Business Recorder.
State Bank had earlier proposed discontinuing the Rs10 banknote in paper form because of rising production costs, Business Recorder reported, citing Deputy Governor Dr Inayat Hussain’s briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue in August.
Hussain told the committee at the time that the central bank had proposed withdrawing the Rs10 banknote after the introduction of the new currency series, and that about a year would be required to introduce the new banknotes into circulation, according to Business Recorder.
Rs10 coin itself is not new to Pakistan, since the State Bank issued a Rs10 coin on October 24, 2016, a yellow, round coin 25.5 millimetres across and weighing 5.50 grams, with the Faisal Mosque on its reverse.
Same cabinet meeting also ratified the Pakistan-Kuwait defence cooperation agreement, originally concluded on June 11, 2023, and transferred the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s office powers to the provincial governor during the state of emergency in the province, according to the Prime Minister’s Office statement.
Shehbaz Sharif also told the cabinet that the government was working to shield the public from rising international petroleum prices, according to the statement carried by The Express Tribune.
Confirmed so far is the approval itself: a Rs10 coin in place of the banknote, and new designs for the currency series. Not confirmed is any date for the coin or the redesigned notes to enter circulation, any withdrawal date for the existing Rs10 note, or any exchange process, because the cabinet statement announced no timetable.
