Kathmandu, December 11

Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has urged the government of India to resolve the issue of demonetised Indian bank notes circulated in Nepal. Speaking in a seminar titled, ‘Impact of Demonetisation: National and International Impact’, organised by World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME) in Noida of India, President of NCC Rajesh Kazi Shrestha, said that as Indian currency is widely accepted in Nepal, traders and general public in the country have been affected by the move of the Indian government introduced a month back, as per a press statement issued by NCC.

He stressed that the issue needs to be settled at the earliest.

India allows people travelling to Nepal to carry up to INR 25,000, hence Indian currency is highly circulated in the border areas and traders at the border points have been affected.

“The demonetisation of INR 500 and INR 1,000 notes by India has affected the families of Nepali migrant workers in India, those who travel frequently to India for various purposes, hotels, restaurants, money exchangers and shopping centres, among others,” the statement has quoted Shrestha as saying.

“The government of India should provide exchange facility to Nepal so that the general public will also be able to surrender the now demonetised bank notes.”

As Nepal and India share an open border, ages-long historical and cultural ties, and marital relations the government of India needs to provide equal treatment to Nepalis to surrender legally earned Indian bank notes, the statement highlighted the NCC president as saying.