Nepal halts use of currency with image of ex-kings

Nepal today stopped the use of currency notes with the image of former kings, nearly three years after it abolished the centuries-old monarchy in the country.

A deadline set by the country's central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), to stop the use of currency notes with kings' heads expired yesterday.

The central bank had given the public until Monday to exchange old notes with the image of former kings with new ones depicting Mount Everest.

NRB ordered banks and businesses to stop using currency notes with kings' heads on them.

To stop the public from panicking, it said few of its counters at NRB and commercial banks will continue to exchange the old notes.

However, it caused panic among some people who went to different banks to exchange their old currency notes today.

Kings' image has been on the country's currency for decades.

Mass protests against unpopular Gyanendra Shah, who became the king in 2001 after the death of his elder brother Birendra in a palace massacre, finally culminated in the abolition of the monarchy soon after the United CPN-Maoist emerged as the largest party in the 2008 assembly polls.

The 65-year-old former monarch has kept a low profile since he left the Narayanhiti palace in June 2008, when the country's governing Constituent Assembly voted to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy and declare a republic.