MOST people rush to banks before Eid so as to get fresh currency notes which can be distributed as Eidi amongst their near and dear ones. However, most of the time they return disappointed as the State Bank of Pakistan hardly ever supplies these to banks.

Usually, during Ramazan and on Eid, everyone carries notes like Rs500, Rs1000 and Rs 5000 for shopping, expecting notes of lower denomination in return. Business owners seem to be desperately on the lookout for notes of Rs100, Rs50, Rs20 and Rs10 but in vain.

This demand-supply gap would be largely covered if the SBP mints currency notes of Rs100 and Rs200 on a large scale.

M. Akhtar Malik

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016