Indian tourists who entered Singapore carrying cash in the denominations of INR 500 and INR 1,000 are in for a rude shock. Banks and money changers are not accepting those in Singapore.
Connected to India called six money changers across the island including Pas Ris, Tampines, Clifford Centre, Bugis and Raffle City to enquire about the impact of demonetisation on them.
On the condition of anonymity, only one got ready to talk to us, “We cannot accept the denominations because we can’t sell it to the wholesaler. Banks won’t accept the denominations either so we can’t help it. We have been getting lots of calls and walk-in customers inquiring about this, since morning.”
A call to DBS Bank confirmed that they are not accepting the two INR denominations. “Don’t know about other banks but DBS and POSB are not accepting INR 500 and INR 1,000.”
On November 9th in a surprise announcement Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that those notes will be withdrawn from the financial system overnight. The move is being widely acknowledged as a master stroke towards cracking down on illegal cash holdings with a direct impact on corruption and terrorism.
Indian citizens must go to post offices or their local banks in the country to deposit the outdated currency within the next 50 days. In return, the Indian government will issue new Rs2,000 (S$42) and Rs500 (S$10) denomination notes.
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