Rs 11.85 crore back but RBI has supplied only Rs 3.81 lakh crore worth of currency

Gandhi said, "The motivations for the demonetisation decision are to deal with the problem of high quality counterfeit notes in these denominations and unearth black money that may be held in cash."

Reserve Bank has supplied to the public banknotes of various denominations worth Rs 3.81 lakh crore. Photo: Reuters

R Gandhi, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), during the fifth bi-monthly monetary policy conference on Wednesday said that the bank has supplied banknotes worth Rs 3.81 lakh crore since demonetisation began in early-November.

Gandhi said, "The motivations for the demonetisation decision are to deal with the problem of high quality counterfeit notes in these denominations and unearth black money that may be held in cash."

He added, "The decision has not been taken in haste but after detailed deliberations. There had to be a high level of secrecy surrounding this decision and the fact is that such a large country was indeed taken by surprise when the decision was announced."

The Reserve Bank and the Central Government run note presses are working to their full capacity and all efforts are being made to reach the notes to every part of the country. In fact during this period (from 10th November 2016 to 5th December 2016), the Reserve Bank has supplied to the public banknotes of various denominations worth Rs 3.81 lakh crore, he said.

Lower denomination notes like Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10, the RBI has supplied about 19.1 billion pieces all over the country in this period. From the total- Rs 100 were 8.5 billion, Rs 50 - 1.8 billion, Rs 20 were 3.1 billion and Rs 10 were 5.7 billion.

Gandhi added, " This is more than what the Reserve Bank had supplied to the public in the whole of last three years.

RBI further said that Rs 11.85 lakh crore has been deposited back by account holders so far.

What this simply means is that currency in circulation in India has reduced to around Rs 8 lakh crore as on December 2, 2016.

Gandhi said, "The Reserve Bank and the Central Government were conscious of certain immediate difficulties that the public at large could face and all efforts were made to minimise them and mitigate them. "

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