As the deadline for the exchange of damaged and defaced banknotes approaches, the state-owned Central Bank says it has collected over 935 million AFs of the affected banknotes.
According to the bank, the deadline remains August 21. It was set in early in February.
“Unfortunately, the time to exchange of defaced and damaged banknotes has come to end. The banknotes will not be exchanged by the Central Bank beyond the deadline,” said Aimal Hashoor, a spokesman for the state bank.
Money exchangers have said a large number of the defaced and damaged banknotes remain in circulation in the local markets, despite the twice extended deadline by the Central Bank.
“There are many problems. Neither we nor the banks are accepting the affected notes.
People have no idea what to do,” said Mohammad Reza, a money exchanger in Kabul’s Karte Se area. “Government should review and address this problem. The defaced and damaged banknotes must be collected from all the markets,” said Abdulwadood, a shopkeeper in Kabul.
The Central Bank set its first deadline for the banknotes in February and extended it in March. However, reports indicate that large numbers of the banknotes are still being used in routine transactions by the people.
Source : afghanistantimes
