KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday relaxed the condition for banks of ensuring 14-day quarantine period for those banknotes processed through machines certified by Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR).
The SBP said that it had imposed a condition on May 04, 2020 under which banks were advised to quarantine cash collected from the public for fourteen (14) days before re-issuing the same.
The SBP further said that the 14- day quarantine for banknotes was introduced in line with the international practices and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.
In view of availability of a number of banknote disinfection machines and technologies, it has been decided that the banks shall have the option to either continue with the fourteen (14) days quarantine requirements or process banknotes through Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) certified machines in lieu of the fourteen (14) days quarantine.
The banks procuring such machines shall ensure that the PCSIR certificate specifically mentions the capacity of the machine to disinfect Bacteria and Viruses including the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.
