The State Bank of Pakistan sources have rejected the reports that the central bank has decided not to issue fresh currency notes on Eidul-Fitr this year.

Talking to Aaj News, a spokesman said that the central bank never issues bank notes to the general public directly. Currency notes are supplied to commercial banks without any instructions restricting the redistribution or issuance of the same to specific groups of people, the spokesperson said.

The spokesman said that the supply of currency notes to commercial banks is continuing as usual.

The spokesperson explained that a few years ago, the SBP launched an SMS service that allowed the recipients of the SMS to receive bundles of fresh currency notes by showing the SMS at selected banks.

But the service was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and it has never been re-launched since then.

The spokesperson said some technical issues hampered the relaunch of the service.

In Pakistan, people actively seek bundles of new notes especially to give Eidi, or Eid gifts, to children on Eidul Fitr.

To cater to this season-specific demand, the central bank started an SMS service a few years ago.

People could send a text to 8877 and get a response text that they would show at selected commercial banks to collect fresh currency notes according to the quota they were allotted.

The charges for sending a text to 8877 were Rs1.5 rupees plus tax.

People availed this service till 2019 before the Covid-19 outbreak, but the service was suspended during the days of the epidemic and has not been relaunched till now.