August 17: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has tightened the facility provided for foreign currency exchange for import and export of goods. The central bank made such arrangement in a bid to toughen its stance against trade-based money laundering that can be promoted through import and export, reads a notice issued by the central bank.    

Issuing an amended version of the Unified Directive on Tuesday, the central bank ordered the licensed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to formulate necessary work procedure to discourage money laundering.    

The Unified Directive states that an internal mechanism will be created to deal with money laundering and the exchange facility can be provided if it is found realistic after comparative analysis between the prices of goods in the international market (proforma invoice).    

The central bank placed tough measures after the importers were found stating one thing in document and another in practice while importing goods and increasing transactions in foreign currency, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.

Meanwhile, the central bank through the Unified Directive has also increased the daily limit of remittance inflow into the country through authorized companies.

As per the new provision, registered companies can deposit remittance up to Rs 1.5 million in the bank accounts of the beneficiary on a daily basis. Prior to this, the maximum limit of remittance inflow was Rs 1 million per day.

The central bank has also instructed the remittance companies to keep records of the personal details of the people sending and receiving money as per the rules.