“We have received the government´s letter that asks us to cooperate with the Australian Federal Police that is investigating the overseas bribery case by NPA there,” said Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada, informing about the Australian government´s official request.[break]
The irregularity in the deal signed nine years ago had surfaced after an audit team that probed the scandal besetting NPA confirmed that NPA agent had bribed officials in various countries, including Nepal, to win the note printing contract.
"Our evidence include admissions by the agents that they used commission payments from NPA to bribe officials to secure the printing contracts from the central bank," Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald had recently quoted a senior Australian central bank official as saying.
Dr Khatiwada, who was summoned by the parliament´s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to brief lawmakers about the controversy surrounding the polymer note printing contract, said the central bank had followed all due procedures while awarding the contract to NPA.
However, lawmakers questioned the quality of polymer notes that NPA delivered. “Nepal was not the first country for which NPA printed the polymer note. How come the quality of notes supplied to us turned out to be so poor?” questioned NC lawmaker Dhan Raj Gurung.
Lawmakers from other parties also said they doubted either the NRB management in 2002 compromised on quality specifications or the printer grossly played foul. “Crucial question is; if the NRB compromised on quality why did it do so? And if it´s the wrongdoing by the NPA, why did the NRB accept it?” said UML lawmaker Shankar Pokharel.
The PAC on Wednesday asked the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the NRB to probe into the procedures that the central bank followed while giving note printing contract to NPA and submit the report to the committee within a month.
The committee mainly asked the MoF and the central bank to focus on why the quality of the polymer notes turned out to be poor than other countries using similar notes.
Likewise, the parliamentary committee also asked the MoF and the NRB to make sure that they seek high quality printing from the note printers in the future. It also asked the central bank to ensure adequate supply of high quality notes in the market.
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