Jaitley says remonetisation process almost complete

He said the RBI was monitoring the currency supply situation on a daily basis.

Ranchi, Feb 16: The remonetisation situation with regard to replenishing the scrapped currency is 'almost normal' now and the Reserve Bank is monitoring the supply on a daily basis, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.

"As far as remonetisation is concerned, the situation is almost normal and RBI is monitoring the currency supply position on daily basis," he said.

The government had withdrawn legal tender character of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 2016 with an aim to check black money, counterfeit notes and terror financing. The government is now pushing and incentivising digital payments.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of 'Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors' Summit 2017 in Ranchi, Jaitley said cash economy has many vices as it leads to crime and tax evasion.

Therefore, there was a need to change the way the trade and commerce is undertaken in the country, he added.

When asked about the amount of scrapped currency received by banks post demonetisation, the finance minister said RBI Governor Urjit Patel had recently informed that the central bank would disclose the figure only after the process of currency verification is complete.

"Whatever time is required, RBI will take that much time. I would not like to say anything thing beyond that," he added.

To a query on discrimination on royalty payment on minerals, Jaitley said it is done based on defined rule.

PTI