NRB asks individuals and BFIs to exchange old Qatari Riyal notes by May 10

Published On: April 21, 2021 05:35 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

The Qatari government from July 1 is banning its old banknotes issued before 2020: NRB

KATHMANDU, April 20: Nepal Ratra Bank (NRB) has asked the individuals and banks and financial institutions (BFIs) concerned to exchange the Qatari Riyal banknotes of the fourth edition.

Issuing a public notice on Tuesday, NRB said that the Qatari currency should be returned to the central bank by May 10. The central bank has cautioned that the Qatari government will be banning the use of old banknotes from July 1.

“The Qatari government has decided that it will not be taking back its currencies issued before 2020. So, we have asked everyone concerned to get such banknotes exchanged within the prescribed deadline,” Manohar Shiwakoti, deputy director at the Foreign Exchange Management Department of NRB, told Republica.

Earlier, with the Indian government going into demonetization in 2016, Indian currency worth millions of rupees has been stuck in Nepal after individuals and BFIs were unable to exchange the old Indian notes on time. Shiwakoti, however, said that the Qatari government has given time to return the old Qatari banknotes.

The government has considered Qatari Riyal as one of the convertible currencies. As of Wednesday, NRB has fixed the exchange rate at Rs 32.98 per unit of Qatari Riyal.

According to NRB, many individuals have already started depositing old Qatari banknotes at the BFIs in two days of the public notice. “However, we don’t have authentic data of the amount collected as of now,” Shiwakoti said.

Qatar is one of the lucrative job destinations for Nepali migrant workers. According to the NRB’s macroeconomic report of the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 9,557 Nepalis went to Qatar for jobs. The figure was 29,835 individuals in 2019/20.

Similarly, Qatar is one of the main sources of remittance for Nepal. Last year, Nepal received Rs 53.93 billion in remittance from Qatar, which was 17.7 percent of the total remittance worth Rs 304.97 billion. The amount was over 35 percent of the remittance of Rs 153.26 billion received from the Gulf countries, according to NRB records.