SBP raises cash transaction reporting threshold to Rs3 million

The State Bank of Pakistan has raised the threshold at which banks must report a cash transaction to the Financial Monitoring Unit to Rs3 million from Rs2 million, with immediate effect, under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010.

The central bank said in a circular to banks and other regulated entities that the change follows Finance Ministry notification No. 3(40) AML/2025-P-002-0001 dated November 11. Regulated entities file suspicious transaction reports and currency transaction reports with the unit under Section 7 of the Act. The notification replaces SRO 73(I)/2015 of January 21, 2015, which had set the Rs2 million line. The SBP directed banks to keep records of the reports they file for ten years from the completion of a transaction.

The National Executive Committee on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, approved the higher threshold at its October meeting, according to Profit. Banks no longer report cash deposits or withdrawals of between Rs2 million and Rs3 million; reporting stays mandatory at or above Rs3 million. A currency transaction report is a routine filing due within seven working days, and the customer is not told. Cash deposits and withdrawals, currency exchange, wire transfers paid for in cash and cash purchases of prize bonds or savings certificates all fall under the requirement, according to the FMU's filing guidelines.

Profit reported that the government gave no reason for the change and that the SBP circular says only that it follows a federal directive. The outlet calculated that in real terms the threshold has roughly halved: consumer prices have roughly tripled since January 2015, when Rs2 million bought about what Rs6 million buys now. In dollars, the 2015 line was worth about $19,900 at roughly Rs100 to the dollar; the new one is worth about $10,800 at about Rs277.

The number of currency transaction reports the FMU received rose from about 707,000 in 2016 to 1.9 million in 2020 and 4.6 million in 2022, the last year with published annual figures, Profit reported. Suspicious transaction reports, which flag possible crime, numbered about 24,000 in 2022, roughly one for every 190 currency reports. Cash in circulation reached a record Rs11.9 trillion at the end of March 2026, according to SBP data.

Investify reported that the change does not cap the amount of cash a transaction may involve, and dated the SBP circular to November 12.

The October committee meeting also added the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to the regulators named in the Act and made maritime piracy a predicate offence for money laundering, Profit reported. The government has not said when the threshold will next be reviewed.