No need of panic on bank notes

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: The central bank has assured the general public not to panic about limited acceptability of the currency notes with the former kings’ portraits.

“There is no need to panic as the currency notes with kings’ portraits are still legal tender and their value is intact, only their general acceptability has declined from today,” said Ashwini Kumar Thakur, chief of Currency Management Department of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). According to the central bank’s Clean Note Policy (CNP), currency notes with former kings’ portrait have ben stopped from being accepted by businesses and banks after March 14.

This caused panic-like situation among general public that still holds old currencies and they were swarming to banks to get the notes exchanged.

As per the central bank’s decree, those notes still in circulation will be exchanged by the 104 branches of designated commercial banks along with district offices of NRB. The commercial banks include 45 branches of Nepal Bank Ltd, 70 Rastriya Banijya Bank’s branches, one branch of Global Bank, five branches of Everest Bank Ltd and two branches of Nepal Bangladesh Bank Ltd that deal in government’s accounts.

“Because of miscommunication, public is thronging the banks fearing the demonetisation of the old currencies with former kings’ portrait,” he pointed out.

“NRB will keep exchanging the notes until necessary in order to displace the notes thus there is no cut out period for exchanging the bank notes with the former kings’ portraits,” he added. NRB has displaced notes worth Rs 69 billion with the kings’ portrait in last five months. There is still about Rs 10.26 billion currencies with former monarchs’ picture in the circulation that has to be withdrawn from circulation. The central bank will be expanding the numbers of branches that will provide exchange facilities for the convenience of the public if the existing branches seem to be insufficient for the exchange of currencies.