The federal government has decided to phase out the Rs10 currency note, while the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is working on new banknote designs featuring enhanced security features, officials told a Senate committee on Tuesday.

The development came during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, where SBP officials briefed members on the production and design of new currency notes.

The officials said the Rs5,000 note had been designed 20 years ago and was now being redesigned for the next 20 years. They added that a proposal was also under consideration to discontinue the Rs10 note because its production cost was relatively high.

According to the officials, it costs around Rs14 to produce each Rs5,000 and Rs1,000 banknote. They said the new notes would incorporate additional security features as part of the redesign process.

Mandviwalla questioned the pace of the process and said he had given three Rs5,000 notes to the SBP deputy governor two years ago, one of which was counterfeit. However, he said the SBP officials had failed to detect the fake note and had yet to return any of the three notes, even after two years. His remarks prompted laughter among committee members.

The committee chairman also criticised the prolonged process for designing and producing the new currency, saying the consultant hired for the designs had already been awarded the printing contract.

“The SBP has been unable to prepare new currency notes for two years. Its situation is even worse than that of the government,” Mandviwalla remarked. Committee member Anusha Rahman questioned why the central bank was not using artificial intelligence to speed up the design process.

SBP officials said the design of the new currency notes had been submitted to a Cabinet subcommittee for approval. The Cabinet committee was currently finalising the designs, they added.

Rahman warned that the approval process could cause further delays, pointing out that if the Cabinet committee proposed any changes, the designs would have to be sent back to the subcommittee.

Mandviwalla expressed concern that the committee’s own term could end before the new currency notes were finally produced. “At this pace, our term will end and the new notes will still not have been produced,” he remarked.