RBI will take time to count scrapped notes deposited in banks: FM

August 01, 2017 23:24

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Reserve Bank of India is in the process of counting scrapped currency notes and will come out with the final figures once the fake notes were weeded out.

Answering oft-repeated questions over the issue, he said in the Lok Sabha that the Reserve Bank had received the last tranche of scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 only in July and the central bank would take time in counting the billions of notes.

On November 8 last year, the government had scrapped high denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 which amounted to around 86 per cent of the currency in circulation.

Replying to a discussion on supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said one of the major benefits of demonetisation was squeezing of funds for terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and naxalites in Chhattisgarh.

On questions regarding the amount of scrapped currency deposited back in the banks, the finance minister said, "Today they (RBI) have to count every currency note. They have to take the fake currency out...That exercise the RBI is taken to a very advanced level."

The minister said since March demands were being raised for disclosure of the amount of scrapped currency deposited in the banks but it can not be done over night.

"...I am hearing that argument 'tell us the currency'. Please study the subject closely. And therefore as soon as they (RBI) complete this exercise, the figure will be placed by them before the country along with the figure of fake currency," he added.

Referring to the efforts being made to deal with the menace of black money, Jaitley said the government is taking action on the information received from five sources including HSBC list, Liechtenstein, Panama papers and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

He said the government has decided to amend the 1988 Benami Act and not bring a new law as they want the deals since 1988 to be covered under the Benami law.

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