Financial Institutions will accept deposit or exchange of 500 and 1,000 Indian rupee notes from customers till December 15.
The notification comes after the Reserve Bank of India withdrew the 500 and 1,000 denomination Indian Bank notes since Tuesday midnight to curb black money.
People have been visiting financial institutions since Wednesday morning to deposit and exchange 500 and 1,000 denomination Indian Rupee notes.
“Right now the Indian government says that the notes of 500 and 1,000 are not valid anymore. The problem for a tourist is that I have money to spend here in next three to four days. If I don’t spend it I have to take it back to India and I cannot spend money in Bhutan. That would be not nice,” said a tourist, Carlos Ocelo Ribeiro.
Chhubachhu Fuel Station’s Incharge, Tshering Dolma said after the news came in, she faced a lot of difficulties.
“When I came here in the morning, my boss asked me not to accept Indian currency notes of 500 and 1,000. At 9 AM when I went to bank to deposit some amount they did not accept it. ”
However, the Royal Monetary Authority said it is just a temporary inconvenience and that it will be solved soon.
The Central Bank has come up with an interim measure.
RMA’s Governor, Dasho Penjore said for those who have bank accounts, there will be no limit on the amount of 500 and 1,000 denomination Indian Rupee notes to be credited to the ngultrum account.
“But, for the non account holders, a maximum of Rs 50,000 can be deposited or exchanged for Ngultrum.”
RMA also assures that this will not hamper the country’s economy.
As of yesterday, RMA and financial institutions had 300 M 500 denomination rupee notes and 227 M 1,000 denomination rupee notes.
The Governor also cautions people to refrain from travelling to India, unless it’s an emergency.
