SME Times News Bureau | 19 Jan, 2017
In a revelation about how the
crucial decision on demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was
taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at a day's notice, RBI
Governor Urjit Patel on Wednesday told a Parliamentary Committee that
the apex bank had been "advised" by the government on
November 7 to hold a board meeting on the issue.
Sources told
IANS that Patel was asked several questions by opposition MPs on
demonetisation. Answering one such query, Patel said the government
had advised that the central board of the Reserve Bank may consider
withdrawing legal tender status of high denomination notes of Rs
1,000 and Rs 500.
The demonetisation decision was announced by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 following a meeting of the
RBI board and also of the union cabinet.
Patel is learnt to
have told the committee that the bank was in talks with the
government on demonetisation since early last year.
Patel was
also asked about the value of demonetised currency which has come
back to the banks, and is learnt to have said that the committee will
be apprised of the figure in due course.
He was also asked
about withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 per week. The committee is likely
to get written answers to some of the questions raised on Wednesday
and Patel may again appear before the committee next
month.
Opposition parties have severely criticised the
government over the manner in which the decision has been
implemented.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, a member of the
committee, told IANS that at the Wednesday meeting, former Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh defended the RBI Governor by suggesting to
him not to answer Congress leader Digvijay Singh's query on whether
there could be chaos if the existing restrictions on cash withdrawals
are removed.
"Yes, he (Manmohan Singh) did help the RBI
governor (on the issue) but the remarks were removed from the
minutes," Dubey said.
Earlier, Patel also told the
Standing Committee on Finance that Rs 9.2 lakh crore of new currency
notes have been put in circulation since the high-value currency
notes were demonetised on November 8.
The RBI has still not
declared how much of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore in banned notes has been
returned to the banks.