Demonetisation: RBI Governor Urjit Patel to appear before Parliamentary panel on July 6

RBI Governor Urjit Patel will appear before a parliamentary panel on July 6 during which he is expected to be questioned about total deposits made in banks post government’s demonetisation move.

This is the fourth time Patel has been summoned by the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Finance, headed by Congress MP and former Union Minister Veerappa Moily.

Patel had appeared before the panel on January 18, but sought exemption from appearance on two subsequent occasions, saying he was busy with the monetary policy review. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee held its two-day policy meet on June 6-7.

Patel has been called after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also in the panel, insisted on calling the RBI Governor despite strong opposition by BJP members in the PSC. Interestingly, it was Singh who had come to rescue of Patel in the committee’s meeting in January when few members tried to grill him.

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“Patel has been asked to appear again before the panel on July 6 to brief the members of the PSC looking into the demonetisation decision,” a member in the panel said.

Members are keen to know the exact amount of cash that has been deposited in banks after the Centre’s demonetisation decision, the member added. The Committee had also called top Finance Ministry and RBI officials in January to discuss the impact of demonetisation.

The members will also enquire on when bank operations will be “normal”. In January, this panel started reviewing the Centre’s decision of demonetisation and has called top officials from various ministries, banks and also RBI.

On 8 November last year, the Centre banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes to curtail the shadow economy and crack down on the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activities and terrorism.

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