Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to formulate a new law to deal with counterfeiting offences in the country. He was chairing a meeting held on Thursday to review the report of the Task Force on Combating the Counterfeiting of Currency Notes and Government Bills.
The Task Force was constituted by the Prime Minister in last August under SBP Governor with representation from National Accountability Bureau (NAB), FIA, SBP, Ministries of Interior, Law and Finance and Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC).
Shaukat said that the law should be in line with the best international practices covering all monetary instruments including currency notes bonds, certificates, stamps etc.
He said that the counterfeiting task involves seamless co-ordination among various departments. The lead agency, FIA need to co-ordinate with all stakeholders to check, production and movement of fake currency, he said. They should focus both on production within the country and cross border movement, he said.
He said all resources be used to get to the source of the crime, adding manufacturers and wholesalers he traced and strict punishment be awarded to them. The Prime Minister asked SBP to launch a campaign to create awareness in the general public about the security features of currency notes.
He further said the law enforcing agencies should encourage the general public to report the incidents of counterfeiting. Governor State Bank Shamshad Akhtar presented the report of the Task Force. She said the report identified reluctance of general public to report counterfeiting instances, lack of co-ordination among the concerned agencies, lack of awareness about the security features as the major issues.
Shamshad Akhtar emphasised the need for strengthening the legal provisions/enforcement and formulation of policy framework on changing currency. She said some measures have already been taken to check counterfeiting. Advanced security features have been added in the design of currency and comprehensive training programmes for SBP and law enforcement agencies have been launched to check counterfeiting, she added. The meeting was attended among others by Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Muhammad Wasi Zafar and senior officials.