State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad has said that the designs for new currency notes have been approved by the SBP Board and forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for final approval.
He shared the update during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, stating that the new currency notes will be issued after the government grants formal approval. The governor also clarified that there is currently no proposal under consideration to discontinue the Rs5,000 note.
During the meeting, discussions also focused on the issue of super tax. Senator Abdul Qadir expressed concerns over the financial burden on taxpayers, questioning how people would manage to pay super tax for three to four years. He criticized the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), saying that taxpayers were being unnecessarily harassed and suggested that tax recovery should be spread over two to three years instead of immediate collection.
Senator Sherry Rehman remarked that although the constitutional court had declared super tax a parliamentary matter, it had increased pressure on taxpayers. She added that repeatedly increasing revenue collection from the same class could not be considered a sustainable revenue model.
Responding to the concerns, the FBR chairman said that installment options for super tax payments could be considered in certain cases if required. He informed the committee that total super tax collection currently stands at Rs217 billion. He also noted that the number of taxpayers increased by one million after sending awareness messages via telephone, a point also acknowledged by the finance minister, who said he had received an FBR message himself.
