KATHMANDU, Nov 18: The parliamentary Finance Committee has urged the government to resolve the problem of demonetized Indian currency as soon as possible. 

At the meeting held on Thursday, the committee instructed the government to intensify diplomatic efforts for returning demonetized 1,000 and 500 Indian rupee bills from Nepal. 

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the government has already taken the issue of swapping the demonetized Indian currency with India at the highest government level.

Similarly, officials of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) told the meeting that they were in touch with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank of India, to find a way out. "We are making continuous efforts. We can hope that the problem will be resolve very soon," NRB Governor Chiranjibi Nepal said in the meeting.

Following the Indian government's decision to withdraw 1,000 and 500 Indian rupee banknotes from the financial system last Tuesday, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) also issued a ban on exchange and transaction of such banknotes in Nepal.  With the uncertainty over the fate of such currency in Nepal, people are still worrying whether the demonetized Indian banknotes in their possession would be a mere worthless paper. 

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had made a phone call to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his help in resolving the problem.

 
• parliamentary finance committee
 
• demonetized indian currency