Daily Times

Director Finance of the State Bank Pakistan Qadir Bakhsh Wednesday said that SBP was organizing an art competition to develop innovative and thematic design ideas for new banknotes where local artists, designers and art students would submit their final designs by March 11.

Talking to private news channel, he said that the final designs would be submitted to the federal government for approval and the process of issuing the new series of banknotes would involves a number of steps, adding, cash prizes would be awarded to top three entries in each of the current seven denominations.

The director explained that after the art competition, the selected design ideas and themes would be shared with professional banknote designers chosen through a competitive process.

These designers would then develop the final printable designs for each denomination, he said, adding, the completed designs were going to be submit to the federal government for approval.

Replying a question, he said launching a new banknote series would involves several steps and stages, requiring careful planning and coordination among multiple stakeholders, adding, typically this process took 2 to 3 years, but the SBP targeted to complete it within the next 2 years. He said a jury of respected artists would evaluate the designs and recommend the top six designs for each denomination to the SBP.

The top three designs for each denomination would receive prizes of Rs 1,000,000, Rs 500,000, and Rs 300,000, respectively, he added. The participants must ensure that their designs were free from copyright claims and liabilities, he mentioned.