June 19: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is preparing to issue digital currency in Nepal.    
The central bank's executive director, Guru Prasad Paudel, confirmed that the NRB is making preparations for issuing its own digital currency and is currently studying the requirements. According to Paudel, 11 countries in the world have their digital own currency so far.
He made such remarks at a programme organised to sign a Memorandum of Understanding about finance and digital literacy between the Machhapuchhre Bank and the Private and Boarding School Organisation of Nepal (PABSON) on Monday.    
The latest data show a significant volume of digital transactions. On an average, Nepal sees monthly digital transactions of Rs 40 billion. In the month of Baisakh (mid April-mid to mid-May), 8.6 million people made transactions worth over Rs 26 billion through QR codes. The use of digital transactions is increasing, suggesting the need for issuing a digital currency, NRB officials said.    
The NRB is observing the current fiscal year as the Digital Payment Promotion Year. -- RSS