ISLAMABAD, May 10: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday asked State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to formulate a new law to deal with counterfeiting offences. Chairing a meeting to review the report of the task force on combating the counterfeiting of currency notes and government bills, the premier said the law should be in line with the best international practices covering all monetary instruments.

An official announcement said that the task force was constituted by the prime minister in August last under SBP governor with representation from NAB, FIA, SBP, ministries of interior, law, finance and Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC). Mr Aziz said that the counterfeiting task involves seamless coordination among various departments. The lead agency, FIA, needs to coordinate with all stakeholders to check fabrication and movement of fake currency within and outside of the country borders, he said.

He said all resources should be utilised to get to the source of the crime. Manufacturers and wholesalers should be traced and strict punishment should be awarded to them. He asked the SBP to launch a campaign to create awareness in the general public about the security features of currency notes.

He said the law enforcing agencies should encourage the general public to report the incidents of counterfeiting.

SBP governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar presented the report of the task force and identified reluctance of general public to report counterfeiting instances, lack of coordination among the concerned agencies, lack of awareness about the security features as the major issues.

She said advanced security features had been added in the new currency notes besides comprehensive training of SBP and law enforcement agencies to check counterfeiting.