SBP issues statement on misprinted banknotes

KARACHI: Responding to the recent controversy about the half-printed banknotes, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday said internal controls are being “further strengthened” while the system in place is “still susceptible to a margin of error”.

The response comes a day after National Bank branch in Karachi reportedly received a few currency notes of Rs1,000, which were misprinted from one side.

In a purported video, a manager of National Bank branch in Karachi showed the ‘one-side blank’ currency of Rs1000 denomination issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

“The cash that arrived this morning has bundles of misprinted Rs1000 notes,” the bank manager can be heard saying in the video.

“One side of the notes are printed and the other is completely blank,” he said, expressing ignorance over the circulation of such bills.

The matter came to light when a customer returned such misprinted currency notes to the bank staff. Later, they checked the bundles of the newly-arrived notes, finding out that all notes of Rs1000 denomination were one-side blank.

In a clarification issued on the matter today, the central bank said: “Some of the notes are misprinted occasionally but the same are detected through the checks and balances put in place.”

“However, no matter how robust and effective a manmade system is, it’s still susceptible to a margin of error, whether here or elsewhere including the developed jurisdictions.

“The instant case involves the discovery of only ten misprinted banknotes in the consignment of NBP’s Model Colony Branch, which is minuscular as to be immaterial when compared with total number of notes that are printed and circulated in the country.

“However, the internal controls are being further strengthened to avoid recurrence of such instance in future,” it added.