Pakistan’s federal cabinet approved a Rs10 coin to replace the Rs10 banknote on 4 November 2026, but the most important fact is not in the headline. The coin already exists. The State Bank issued a Rs10 coin on 24 October 2016, and it has been a regular coin ever since. Cabinet approval does not invent new money. It ends paper as the main form of the smallest banknote, and it leaves three questions unanswered: when the note will stop being legal tender, how long holders will get to exchange it, and whether the old coin design will carry on. Until those answers are published, a Rs10 note is still worth Rs10.
What the cabinet actually approved
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the Islamabad meeting on Wednesday evening. On the Finance Ministry’s recommendation, the cabinet approved designs for a new currency series, with stronger security features and modern materials, and a Rs10 coin in place of the banknote. The Prime Minister’s Office statement is the formal record of both decisions. One account of the meeting published on 4 November said the denomination would be retained, but the Prime Minister’s Office statement says the opposite in clear terms. Follow the formal statement, which sets no withdrawal date.
The coin is ten years old, not new
The Rs10 coin is yellow and round, 25.5 millimetres across and weighing 5.50 grams, with the Faisal Mosque on the reverse. It was issued on 24 October 2016, after the federal government authorised the State Bank to distribute it in July 2016. Regular Rs10, Rs5, Rs2 and Re1 coins are in issue. The cabinet decision is therefore better understood as a withdrawal of paper than as a launch of coinage. A Rs10 coin still buys what a Rs10 note buys, as the USD to PKR exchange rate today shows. The open question is supply. The cabinet statement does not say whether the 2016 design will be reused, restruck in larger numbers, or replaced with a new design.
From September denial to November approval in 48 days
In August 2026, State Bank Deputy Governor Dr Inayat Hussain told the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue that the central bank had proposed withdrawing the Rs10 banknote after the new currency series arrived. He also told the committee that the bank had made two previous attempts to discontinue the denomination. Then, on 17 September 2026, the State Bank dismissed social media reports that the note had already been discontinued. It called those reports baseless, said no decision had been taken to replace or discontinue any denomination, and said its proposal was still under consideration by the federal cabinet. Forty eight days later, on 4 November, the cabinet approved the coin. That does not make the September statement false, since no cabinet decision had been taken then. Holders should wait for the next formal step rather than acting on rumours.
Why paper loses this argument
The case against the Rs10 note is about cost and lifespan, not value. Low notes pass through many hands daily and wear out quickly. A cabinet discussion in January 2026 heard that printing a Rs10 note cost about 25 percent of its face value and that its lifespan was under nine months. A coin survives years in a pocket and in a cash drawer. That durability argument is why the cabinet was told that low denomination coins last longer than low value notes worldwide. The decision is not a redenomination and does not change savings. Household pressure comes from elsewhere, including October inflation easing to 9.6 percent yet still rising and the budget ratio behind Pakistan’s hunger rank.
What still has to happen before your note stops working
Three formal steps stand between cabinet approval and a note that can no longer be used. First, a withdrawal needs a formal Gazette notification. Under Section 25 of the State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956, a note series ceases to be legal tender only after a Gazette notification from the federal government, on the State Bank Board’s recommendation, sets the date. Cabinet approval is not that notification. Second, the State Bank must publish the exchange arrangement, including how long holders get to swap notes and where they can do it. No period has been announced yet. Third, the new currency series still has to reach circulation. Until the first two steps are published, keep using Rs10 notes and ignore any message claiming a deadline no official notice has set. Three tests will show whether this is handled cleanly: a Gazette date, an exchange window in months rather than days, and a clear statement on the coin design. For more business and economy news from Pakistan, PakMirror will update this story when the State Bank publishes the withdrawal notice.
