Pakistan To Try Out Polymer

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the latest central bank planning to issue polymer notes, with a commemorative note to mark the 75th anniversary of independence in 2022, and another to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Bank in 2023.

Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) has issued a tender for the substrate supply – sufficient for 100 million of each note. The tender also includes the design of the first note, and training in the design of the second, along with training of machine operators to print on polymer.

A pre-bid meeting has already been held. The closing date for the tender is 11 November.

It is unlikely, at least at this stage, that the SBP is considering a further move to polymer, since the tender specifies technical assistance in the shift from paper to polymer production, and afterwards back again to paper.

Even so, it’s a foot in the door, and the conversion of any of Pakistan’s circulating notes to polymer would represent a major coup for the substrate. With a population of 225 million people, it is the fifth most populous country in the world. And also one of the most cash-intensive. Last year, PSPC produced 4 billion banknotes.