New Delhi, jan 18, 2017 : Appearing before a Parliamentary panel today, Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel would not say by when banking operations, hit by the notes ban, would return to normal, but, sources said, he emphasised that the central bank would be able to supply as much cash as was required. The RBI, Mr Patel said, has injected 9.2 lakh crore in new currency notes into the banking system to help replace the notes banned in November.
Mr Patel met the standing committee on finance to answer questions about the move to abolish 500 and 1,000 rupees notes, which took away 86 percent of the currency then in circulation or Rs. 15.44 lakh crore.
The RBI chief told the panel that the process of demonetisation started in January, the sources told NDTV. In a written response to the panel earlier, Mr Patel had said that the government had "advised" the central bank to cancel the high-value notes on November 7, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ban.
Mr Patel told the committee today that the main objective behind the notes ban was to target black or undeclared money and terror funding.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has injected 9.2 trillion rupees ($135.21 billion) worth of new currency notes into the banking system to help replace the notes banned in November, a parliamentary source quoted central bank governor Urjit Patel as saying.
Sources said officials of the finance ministry, who also appeared before the panel, did not respond to MPs’ questions on how much money has been deposited in old notes since November 8. The Reserve Bank is yet to say how much of the 15.44 lakh crores in banned notes had been returned to banks by December 30, the deadline for depositing these. Some reports estimate that 97% of the money is back.
On Friday, Mr Patel is expected to meet parliament’s Public Accounts Committee headed by KV Thomas of the Congress, who had controversially announced that if needed, he would summon PM Modi as well to answer questions. The BJP members of the committee objected to this pronouncement and the panel over-ruled Mr Thomas.
Representatives of Indian Banks Association, State Bank, Punjab National Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce were also present at the meeting called by the panel, headed by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily.
The opposition has alleged that the RBI had compromised its autonomy after the bank, in its written response to the committee, said the government had "advised" it to scrap 500 and 1,000-rupee notes on November 7 -- a day before the announcement was made.
The abrupt withdrawal of the high denomination of notes had put 86 per cent of currency out of circulation - triggering a huge cash crunch across the country. Huge queues formed outside banks and ATMS - a situation that PM Modi had promised would normalise within 50 days.