RBI governor to brief Parliament panel on demonetisation

Government has taken a host of measures like service tax sops and incentives for making digital payments to ease out problems arising out of less currency being available in the market.

New Delhi, Dec 18 Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel will on December 22 brief the Parliamentary Committee on Finance about the demonetisation process and its impact. "Briefing by the Governor, RBI, on the subject 'Demonetisation of Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 and the impact thereof,'" said a schedule posted on the Parliament website.

The briefing will start at 11 AM at the Parliament annexe building on Thursday. Since banning of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes on November 8, Government has taken a host of measures like service tax sops and incentives for making digital payments to ease out problems arising out of less currency being available in the market.

The move has led to wiping out of almost 86 per cent of the currency which was present in cash before November 8, in the form of Rs 500/1000 notes. The RBI and government have been assuring the common people regularly that there is enough cash that has been pumped back into the system.

The Reserve Bank of India last week said that Rs 12.44 lakh crore in demonetised notes have been collected at banks. Also, banks have issued Rs 4.61 lakh crore to the public since November 8-9 through ATMs and bank counters, it said. "The RBI has issued 21.8 billion pieces of banknotes of various denominations since demonetisation," deputy governor R Gandhi said.

PTI