2 min read
Google’s currency converter is displaying an impossible exchange rate of GBP-to-PKR on Monday morning, showing £1 equal to just Rs9.52, a figure that immediately raises alarms among users in Pakistan and beyond.
The apparent glitch, as noticed by TechJuice, has surfaced on Google Search’s built-in currency tool, where the GBP–PKR rate chart suddenly shows a major wreck despite no corresponding movement in real foreign exchange markets.
The error was visible alongside a five-day chart that appeared to show a dramatic plunge in the pound against the Pakistani rupee, contradicting official interbank and open-market rates where the pound continues to trade well above Rs350.
While Google has not yet issued an official explanation, similar glitches have occurred in the past when third-party data providers briefly supplied corrupted or misformatted values, leading to extreme spikes or collapses on charts. In this case, the issue appeared limited to the Google interface, with no evidence of disruption across institutional trading systems or central bank data.
Until an official clarification is provided, the episode serves as a reminder that search-based currency converters are convenience tools, not authoritative financial sources, and that even widely trusted platforms like Google are not immune to data glitches.
Whether Google addresses the incident publicly or quietly resolves it, as screenshots of the Rs9.52 rate continue to circulate as a stark example of how a small data error can cause outsized confusion.
