ADVERTISEMENT

Data On Demonetised Notes To Be Revealed After June: RBI

Cash deposit window for demonetised currency notes for NRIs open till June 30.



Indian two thousand and five hundred rupee banknotes (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
Indian two thousand and five hundred rupee banknotes (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Over a month after the end of 50-day demonetisation period, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it is reconciling data on junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with physical cash and the "final numbers" will be divulged after June 30, the day when all windows for depositing old notes will be closed.

Following the shock demonetisation announcement on November 8 last year, the government had asked people to deposit old high-value currency notes in banks by December 30. Indians who were abroad during November 9 to December 30 have been given a 3-month grace period till March 31 to deposit the junked notes, while for the non-resident Indians (NRIs), it is allowed for six months till June 30.

RBI Deputy Governor SS Mundra said the final numbers can only be revealed after counting the notes deposited in cooperative banks, receipt of information from Nepal and Bhutan, and close of the window for deposit of notes by NRIs.

“After adding all these, we will give out the number (of notes deposited). But the final numbers and piece-to-piece verification of the huge volume of currency that has come in will take time. That we will come out in due course,” he told reporters here.

“The window (for NRIs) is open till June 30 in which people can deposit cash. And after adding all these, we will give out the number,” Mundra said.

Indian currency is accepted for transactions in Nepal and Bhutan. Post-demonetisation, both Nepal Rashtra Bank and Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan were in touch with the RBI regarding facilitation of collection and deposit of old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 that are already in stock of the central Banks.

The work is on regarding number. There are 4,000 currency chests in the country. RBI keeps currency in 19 places. After December 30 when we had asked all banks to calculate, then RBI team also did central checking. That procedure is over. Reconciliation is going on with regard to physical cash. We hope this will get over in sometime.
SS Mundra, Deputy Governor, RBI

Mundra added that post-demonetisation, RBI has pumped in Rs 9.92 lakh crore worth currency notes into circulation. It was estimated that Rs 15.45 lakh crore worth old notes accounting for 86 percent of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes was in circulation before demonetisation.