印度廢鈔行動繼續朝令夕改

bank customers in India will not be allowed to deposit More than Rs5,000 without first being questioned by bank officials, the government has announced.

印度政府宣佈，在沒有接受銀行官員問詢之前，銀行客戶將不得存款超過5000盧比。

Yesterday’s move is the latest in a string of changes to the rules governing the demonetisation scheme since it was unveiled last month.

自上月推出廢鈔計劃以來，規範這一計劃的規則經歷了一連串變動，昨日的舉措是最新變化。

The finance ministry said customers would be allowed to make one payment of more than Rs5,000 ($74) before the December 30 deadline for exchanging money, but only after explaining why they had not done so in the previous six weeks.

印度財政部稱，將允許客戶在12月30日截止日期前一次性支付超過5000盧比（合74美元）來兌換舊鈔，但必須先解釋他們爲什麼沒有在此前的6個星期這樣做。

It said: It is expected that, by now, most of the people will have deposited such old notes in their possession.

財政部表示：預計至今爲止，大多數居民已將他們擁有的此類舊鈔票存入銀行。

Keeping this in view, and to reduce the queues in the banks, it has now been decided that amounts exceeding Rs5,000 in old notes can be deposited only once between now and December 30 2016.

有鑑於此，同時爲了減少銀行排隊，現已決定，從即日起到2016年12月30日，總額超過5000盧比的舊鈔票只有一次存入機會。

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, announced on November 8 that banknotes worth Rs500 and Rs1,000 — about $7.50 and $15 — would cease to be legal overnight.

11月8日，印度總理納倫德拉.莫迪(Narendra Modi，見上圖)宣佈，面值爲500盧比和1000盧比的紙幣——分別相當於約7.5美元和15美元——將從午夜開始停止流通。

He told those holding the old notes that they had until the end of the year to deposit them into bank accounts and that deposits over Rs250,000 would be flagged to income tax officials as part of his push to tackle India’s pervasive black economy.

他表示，持有舊鈔票的民衆必須在今年底之前將鈔票存入銀行賬戶，超過25萬盧比的存款將由所得稅官員審覈，這是莫迪整治印度大規模黑色經濟的努力的一部分。

Since then, the rules governing what can be deposited and withdrawn have changed many times as politicians and officials have reacted to the confusion and lengthy bank queues across the country.

自那時起，爲了應對全國各地的混亂局面和銀行排起的長隊，政客和官員們多次更改如何存取鈔票的規則。

Five days after the policy was first announced, the government raised the limit of how much old currency could be exchanged for new notes over the counter from Rs4,000 to Rs4,500.

該政策首次宣佈五天後，印度政府將在銀行櫃檯可兌換舊鈔的限額從4000盧比提高到了4500盧比。

Four days after that, the limit was slashed to Rs2,000.

但四天後，該限額被降至2000盧比。

A week later, the government stopped all exchanges completely, allowing customers only to deposit and withdraw in separate transactions.

一星期後，政府完全終止了所有舊鈔兌換，規定客戶每筆交易只能進行存款或取款。

The reasons given for carrying out the policy have also fluctuated.

推行這一政策的理由也在不斷變化。

When Mr Modi first announced it, he highlighted cutting off a source of funding to terrorism as the main driver.

首次宣佈廢鈔時，莫迪強調主要是爲了切斷恐怖主義的資金來源。

After that, he stressed that this was more about recovering untaxed black money before the message again changed, to focus on encouraging Indians to carry out more digital payments.

之後，他又強調，此舉更多是爲了追回逃稅的黑錢，後又改口稱，是爲了鼓勵印度人更多地使用數字支付。

Mr Modi again defended his move yesterday.

莫迪昨日再次爲自己的政策辯護。

Speaking at a rally in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where elections will be held next year, the prime minister gave details of a government lottery scheme to grant prizes to shops and customers who use electronic payment methods.

在明年將舉行選舉的北方邦(Uttar Pradesh)的一次集會上發表演講時，莫迪詳細介紹了一項政府彩票計劃，讓使用電子支付方式的商店和顧客有機會中獎。

Mr Modi added: I want to urge the intellectuals of the country to tell people about the resilience shown by Indians to support the demonetisation decision.

莫迪還表示：我要敦促印度知識分子將印度人在支持廢鈔決定上表現出的韌性告知世人。

History will not remember this move for which prime minister took this decision but for the fight waged by common people against black money.

歷史將銘記這一刻，不是因爲哪位總理做出了這一決定，而是因爲普通民衆發起的打擊黑錢的鬥爭。