Kathmandu — Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has amended its integrated payment system guidelines, allowing payments in convertible foreign currency for goods produced in a third country (excluding India) but shipped from a third country through an Indian supplier.
The revised directive states: “If a public entity subject to the Public Procurement Act purchases goods under the Act, and the goods originate from or are manufactured in a third country and are shipped from a third country, but the supplier is an Indian firm or company, foreign exchange facilities — in convertible foreign currency or Indian Rupees — may be provided as per the existing provisions.”
Previously, such a facility mainly applied to Agricultural Inputs Company Limited and Salt Trading Corporation Limited when importing fertilizers and seeds through global tenders. These goods, produced and shipped from a third country, could be paid for in the name of an Indian firm in convertible currency or Indian Rupees.
With the amendment, this arrangement will now extend to any public entity operating under the Public Procurement Act, enabling them to make such payments for goods procured through lawful tender processes.
The directive also specifies that if the supplier to a public entity is a Nepali institution, but that institution procures goods from an Indian entity — and those goods originate from and are shipped from a third country — the Nepali buyer will also be allowed to make payments in convertible foreign currency or Indian Rupees to the Indian supplier.
NRB said this change builds upon earlier provisions, which applied only to certain imports like fertilizers and seeds via global tenders, by broadening the scope to cover a wider range of goods and services imported from India through competitive international procurement methods.
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