KARACHI, Aug 18: The State Bank of Pakistan said on Saturday that its Banking Services Corporation (BSC) issued fresh currency notes worth Rs114.23 billion to commercial banks during the month of Ramazan.

According to the break-up, the field offices of SBP BSC issued fresh currency notes of Rs10, Rs20, Rs50, Rs100, Rs500, Rs1,000 and Rs5,000 denominations amounting to Rs3.50 billion, Rs1.95 billion, Rs2.85 billion, Rs7.63 billion, Rs27.25 billion, Rs67.28 billion and Rs3.77 billion respectively.

The commercial banks branches were also asked to issue only one packet each of Rs10 and Rs20 per person to general public/account holders from August 1 till the last working day before Eidul Fitr 2012.

However bank branches were allowed to issue a maximum of five packets each of Rs10 and Rs20 denominations to their corporate clients.

SBP instructed banks to keep sufficient amount of cash in their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) so that general public do not face difficulty in getting currency notes from ATMs during Eid holidays. It also warned the banks that it will impose fines on them, if their ATMs are not found working during Eid holidays. The inspection teams of SBP BSC will monitor the working and availability of cash in ATMs during Eid holidays.

Separately, MCB Bank, in a press release, stated that it had provided Rs2.4 billion to its ATM branches and made special arrangements to ensure availability of quality notes from its 685 ATMs across the country during Eidul Fitr.

On August 16 out of total 138,747 transactions on the MCB ATM network, 81,413 transactions were carried out by MCB accountholders whereas 57,334 transactions were carried out by other banks’ card holders.