April 30, 2021 (MLN): The federal government has decided to discontinue Rs7,500 and Rs15,000 denomination prize bonds from January 1, 2022, in order to address concerns raised by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) related to corruption and money laundering.
According to the notification issued by Finance Division, the investors can redeem their Rs7,500 prize Bonds till December 31, 2021 and Rs15,000 bonds can only be encashed till June 30.
These prize bonds could either be encashed, deposited or converted into special savings and defence saving certificates, the notification said. It further added that investors who do not wish to cash the bonds can pay an additional amount and convert them into Rs25,000 and Rs40,000 bonds.
Currently, the total investment in Rs15,000 prize bond stands at Rs190billion whereas, Rs7,500 prize bonds have an investment of Rs126bn.
It may be noted that last year in December, the federal government discontinued the sale of Rs25,000 National Prize Bonds, to address the FATF’s concerns over money laundering and terror financing.
