BackNepal demands window to exchange currency notes banned by India
Nepal 'must' be provided a mechanism for exchanging demonetised Indian currency notes, the country's ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay has said
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New Delhi: Nepal “must" be provided a mechanism for exchanging high-value Indian currency notes that were in circulation before demonetisation, the country’s ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay said on Tuesday.
He said there were several rounds of discussions between the central banks of the two countries to resolve the issues arising out of the decision, following which an understanding was “almost reached".
“There was almost a kind of understanding that they will provide a window just for the exchange of currency notes which Nepali people are holding. From the Nepal side, the request was Rs25,000 for each account and from the Indian side, it was to go for Rs4,500 each exchange," he told reporters during an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club in New Delhi.
Upadhyay explained that nearly every family residing in the hilly regions of Nepal has a member employed in some part of India. “There are pensioners, also almost every family has a member in India. During festive seasons, when they return they take money for needs that may be medical...It is my moral obligation. Some kind of a window Nepal must get," he said.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced in March that Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would set up a modality of exchange and settle the related issues soon. The Indian currency is widely used in Nepal for day-to- day transactions, especially in the border areas.
Also, Nepalese citizens working in India send remittances to their families in Nepal in higher denomination notes. Nepal, a landlocked country, depends on India for trade and supplies.
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