Fiscal Nepal
First Business News Portal in English from Nepal
KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has awarded the international tender for printing new Rs 1,000 banknotes to China Bank Note Printing & Minting Corporation, a state-owned subsidiary of the People’s Bank of China.
According to NRB, the Chinese company won the contract to print 430 million pieces of Rs 1,000 notes at a total cost of USD 16.9 million, equivalent to around Rs 2.39 billion. The central bank finalized the agreement after evaluating bids submitted under the global tender notice issued earlier this year.
NRB had opened pre-bidding on 25 September and set the deadline for submission of bids on 21 October, inviting international firms specializing in high-security currency production.
Officials at the central bank stated that the fresh batch of high-denomination notes will meet Nepal’s currency demand for approximately three and a half years. The Rs 1,000 denomination is the most widely circulated high-value currency in Nepal’s economy, used broadly across banking, trade, remittances, and retail transactions.
This is not the first time Nepal has outsourced the printing of high-value notes to the Chinese state enterprise. NRB had previously procured Rs 1,000 notes from the same company. At that time, when the exchange rate stood at approximately Rs 108 per US dollar, the printing cost per note was Rs 3.37.
The new contract marks another phase of Nepal’s reliance on foreign high-security printing companies due to the absence of domestic high-grade currency printing technology.
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