Royalty set to lose currency in Nepal

Nepal’s central bank has prepare d proposals for changes to the notes and has sent them to the government for approval, the newspaper quoted Finance Ministry official Vidhyadhar Mallik as saying.

Finance Ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the report. Traditionally, pictures of Nepal’s ruling monarchs have adorned all of the country’s currency notes.

Weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations forced Gyanendra was to give up his authoritarian rule last year. He had been stripped of his executive and political powers, and lost control of the army. A special assembly, to be elected later this year, will decide whether Nepal will continue to have a king. Nepal has been ruled by Gyanendra’s predecessors for more than two centuries.

Meanwhile, Press Trust of India reported that a cabinet meeting had approved Nepal Rastra Bank’s proposal to use the Buddha’s picture instead of the monarch’s on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The report quoting a source said that the cabinet had picked up Buddha’s picture from among various alternatives suggested by the ‘Notes Design Committee’ of Nepalese central bank.

However, except for the picture there will be no other modifications in the design of the notes, which would come into circulation in the next six months, the report said.

Earlier, the finance ministry had tabled a proposal to the cabinet to this effect while the Nepal Rastra Bank had submitted nine samples of the pictures.