Rs10 note to be replaced by a coin as cabinet approves new currency note designs

The Rs10 note is on its way out. The federal cabinet on Wednesday, 4 November, approved a Rs10 coin to replace the Rs10 banknote, and on the Finance Ministry's recommendation also approved the designs of Pakistan's new series of currency notes, Business Recorder reported from a Prime Minister's Office statement. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting.

What was approved

• A Rs10 coin, replacing the green Rs10 note. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had proposed dropping the note because it costs too much to print and wears out quickly in daily use.
• New designs for the banknotes. The government invited proposals from artists and designers across the country, and a cabinet committee formed by the prime minister consulted all stakeholders before the final choice.
• Security and durability. The new notes will carry new anti-counterfeiting features and use modern materials meant to last longer in circulation.

No launch date for the coin or the new notes has been announced, and the government has not yet shown the designs in public.

When will the new notes arrive?

In August, SBP Deputy Governor Dr Inayat Hussain told the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue that the bank planned to withdraw the Rs10 note once the new series was introduced, and that it would take about a year to get the new notes into circulation. He told senators the current Rs5,000 note dates from 2005 and that newer technology had made it easier to counterfeit. A Senate Secretariat statement said printing one Rs5,000 note costs about Rs14.

The redesign has been under way since January 2024, when the SBP began work on a new series covering every denomination:

What it means for you

Your Rs10 notes stay legal tender. Nothing in the cabinet decision cancels the notes already in your wallet. When the SBP withdraws a note it normally announces a date and a window for exchanging old notes at banks and its own offices, so wait for that notice and ignore social media claims that the note has "stopped working".

For shopkeepers, rickshaw drivers and anyone who handles a lot of small change, a coin will mean heavier pockets but fewer torn, taped notes.

Want to see what your savings are worth as prices change? Our currency converter and the dollar rate page are updated every day.

Other cabinet decisions

The same meeting ratified a defence cooperation agreement with Kuwait, first signed on 11 June 2023, Business Recorder reported. It also endorsed decisions of the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises from 26 October and of the Cabinet Committee for Legislative Cases from January to September 2026.