印度突然取消大面值紙幣

India unexpectedly scrapped all larger-denomination banknotes overnight in what New Delhi said was a move to stop counterfeiting and clamp down on the black economy.

印度在一夜之間意外取消了所有較大面值的紙幣，新德里方面稱此舉是為了阻止偽造紙幣并打擊黑色經(jīng)濟(jì)。

Prime minister Narendra Modi said ­yesterday that 500 and 1,000 rupee notes — worth about $7.50 and $15 respectively — would cease to be legal tender from midnight. The announcement stunned Indians, who were given four hours’ notice that much of their cash would become “mere paper”.

印度總理納倫德拉•莫迪(Narendra Modi)昨日表示，面值為500和1000盧比的紙幣——分別相當(dāng)于7.5美元和15美元左右——將從午夜開始停止流通。該消息震驚了印度人，他們提前4個小時被通知他們的多數(shù)現(xiàn)金將成為廢紙。

Shortly after the news, Indian television showed queues of people building outside petrol stations and cash dispensers. Indians will be allowed to deposit or exchange their old currency notes at banks and post offices until the end of the year, but they will not be usable anywhere else, except government hospitals, pharmacies and emergency travel counters for a limited period.

在該消息公布后不久，印度電視臺播出了人們在加油站和自動提款機(jī)外排隊的場景。印度人被允許今年年底前在銀行和郵局存入或換掉舊紙幣，但是這些紙幣無法在其他任何地方使用，除了有限時間內(nèi)可以在政府醫(yī)院、藥房、緊急旅行柜臺使用。

New Delhi has promised to introduce a new series of higher value banknotes with additional security features in the denominations of Rs500 and Rs2,000 tomorrow, following a surprise bank holiday today. In the interim, the highest legal tender note is Rs100, equal to around about $1.50.

新德里承諾，將在明天(今天銀行意外休假一天)引入具有新的安全特征、面值為500盧比和2000盧比的一系列較高面值的新鈔票。在此之前，法定貨幣的最高面值為100盧比，相當(dāng)于1.5美元左右。

Indians will be restricted to withdrawing Rs2,000 per day from cash machines or banks, increasing to Rs4,000 from November 19, a restriction that some economists said could damp business for some time.

印度人將被限制每天最多能從自動柜員機(jī)或銀行取出2000盧比，從11月19日開始限額提高至4000盧比。一些經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家認(rèn)為，該限制可能會在一段時間內(nèi)抑制商業(yè)。

“People are going to become very anxious,” said Jahangir Aziz, head of emerging market economics for JPMorgan.

“人們會變得非常焦慮，”摩根大通(JPMorgan)新興市場經(jīng)濟(jì)體主管賈漢吉爾•阿齊茲(Jahangir Aziz)稱。

Urjit Patel, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said the decision had been taken jointly by the government and the central bank and was “a powerful step to fight the use of black money and . . . counterfeit notes”.

印度央行(Reserve Bank of India)行長爾吉特•帕特爾(Urjit Patel)稱，該決定由政府和央行聯(lián)合做出，是“打擊使用黑錢以及……假幣的有力措施”。

Analysts said that Indians holding currency derived from legitimate sources — and on which they had paid income taxes — would have no difficulties, but Indians who were sitting on piles of cash from illegitimate activities, would be caught out.

分析人士表示，持有通過合法來源取得貨幣、并已繳納所得稅的印度人不會遇到任何困難，但擁有大量通過非法活動取得的現(xiàn)金的印度人，將會原形畢露。

“Wiping out the existing high denomination notes will put a scare into those holding them for illicit purposes and spur a move towards more efficient electronic payment systems,” said Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell Universities. But, he added, “This move will at best put a modest and temporary crimp on illicit activities.”

“消滅現(xiàn)有高面值鈔票，將讓為從事非法活動而持有這些鈔票的人感到恐慌，并有利于打造更高效的電子支付系統(tǒng)，”美國康奈爾大學(xué)(Cornell University)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)教授埃斯瓦爾•普拉薩德(Eswar Prasad)說。但他接著說，“這一措施對非法活動的限制效果，充其量是溫和、暫時的。”