Demonetisation: RBI Guv Urjit Patel to brief parliamentary panel on Wednesday

RBI Governor Urjit Patel will on Wednesday brief a parliamentary panel in New Delhi on demonetisation and its impact on the economy and the steps taken by the central bank to deal with the cash crunch.

Besides, representatives of the Finance Ministry, including from the department of Economic Affairs, Financial Services and Revenue will brief the members of the Standing Committee on Finance headed by former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily.

Also, representatives of Indian Banks Association (IBA), State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) are scheduled to be present in the meeting.

The meeting will discuss the “demonetisation of Indian currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and the impact thereof”.

The RBI Governor is also scheduled to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on the same issue on January 20.

In a surprise move on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Following the decision, the RBI had put restrictions on withdrawal of cash from ATMs as well as from banks to deal with shortage of new high denomination currency notes. This led to long queues at ATMs and bank branches.

The cash situation has improved gradually with supply of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. Yesterday, the RBI increased the daily withdrawal limit from ATMs to Rs 10,000, though it kept the weekly ceiling at Rs 24,000.

All over the country, the banks had to deal with huge rush of people who thronged their branches to deposit the junked notes. The deadline for depositing old notes with banks ended on December 30.