The business of currency exchanges houses in Qatar is going through tough time with the recent shortage of Nepalese rupee just after India’s rupee demonetisation.
As a matter of fact, after the Nepalese rupee, Indian notes are the second most used currency in Nepal, with 30 per cent of the transactions in the country done in Indian currency. The decision of the Indian government to ban the largest denomination bank notes from circulation meant that the 30 per cent of currencies circulated in Nepal crunching in the market.
As a result, there is an acute shortage of Nepalese currency in Qatar as exchange houses in the country are not getting Nepalese rupees from its sources in Bahrain and Dubai due currency crunch in Nepal, Qatar Tribune reports.
Anand P Jukati, the senior manager of Al Mana Exchange noted that the exchange house receives a lot of customers seeking Nepalese notes in exchange of Qatari riyals on a regular basis. But however, they refuse to entertain such customers, mostly tourists, as they do not have Nepalese rupee at the counters. This has been adversely affecting the business.
Similarly, Adarsh Shenawa, a currency expert at Doha-based Al Zaman Exchange, also pointed out that there is no supply of Nepalese rupee to exchange houses in Qatar from proper channel after India’s sudden withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes from circulation last month, as reported by Qatar Tribune.
He added that the sudden withdrawal of the high denomination notes has thrown the Nepalese economy into turmoil as it is heavily reliant on Indian currencies for daily transactions. In fact, the businesses of exchange houses across the Gulf region are also getting affected due to the shortage of Nepalese currency.
However, a senior official from the Nepalese Embassy in Qatar stated any tourist or businessperson going to Nepal would get the facility to convert Qatari riyal or any other currency into Nepali rupees at the Kathmandu airport.
