The state Mint has decided to purchase a security-printing machine to print bank cheques and postal stamps in Nepal. Officials say they expect this to save the Exchequer over Rs 140 million a year in printing bills. Once the machine arrives, in about six months, all bank cheques, postal stamps, and VAT and income tax stickers can be printed in the country. Sakurai, a Japanese company, manufactures and sells the machine for close to Rs 20.3 million, excluding VAT and import tax. Currently, chequebooks of the state-run banks are printed in India and postal stamps in Austria. Passports, currency notes and airplane tickets will continue to be printed abroad. But none of this will happen before the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) completes investigations on a complaint filed with it alleging irregularities in the purchasing process.