The ngultrum (/əŋˈɡʊltrəm/ əng-GUUL-trəm or /əŋˈɡuː(l)trəm/ əng-GOO(L)-trəm; Dzongkha: དངུལ་ཀྲམ, IPA: [ŋýˈʈúm], lit.

[4] While the Bhutanese government developed its economy in the early 1960s, monetization in 1968 led to the establishment of the Bank of Bhutan.

The Ngultrum retained the peg to the Indian rupee at par, which the Bhutanese coins had maintained.

[5] The term derives from the Dzongkha ngul, "silver" and trum, a Hindi loanword meaning "money.

[8] On August 4, 1982, the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Act was enacted, although the RMA did not begin operations until November 1, 1983, and did not issue its own family of notes until 1986.