Kathmandu. This year, the general public will not be able to exchange new and dry notes in large quantities as a festival like in the previous years. Although the demand for new notes increases during big festivals like Dashain, Tihar, etc., the distribution of new notes will not be given priority this year.
In the past, Nepal Rastra Bank used to make special arrangements for the exchange of new notes for the general public before Dashain. Due to the practice of giving new notes as dakshina during Dashain, there used to be a large crowd of people at banks and financial institutions to buy new notes.
However, keeping in mind the cost of printing, managing and distributing new notes, this time the policy has been taken not to distribute new notes as a festival.
Every year before Dashain, there was a huge pressure of the general public in the banking system to exchange new notes. The demand for small denomination notes of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 rupees is very high. As many families look for new notes to give donations to children and relatives, the crowd at the bank branches used to increase as Dashain approached.
However, the tendency of exchanging new notes frequently, storing them without bringing them into circulation in a short time, and the tendency to write, manipulate and use the notes carelessly has led to the problem of shortening the life of the notes. With the increase in the use of new notes, the central bank has also faced the additional financial burden of printing and managing the notes.
