Almost all 500 and 1,000 currency notes rendered illegal in November 2016 have returned to the banking system, the RBI has said, prompting the Opposition to question the efficacy of demonetisation in curbing black money.
The government, however, insisted that the exercise had achieved the objectives “quite substantially”, reported PTI.
Banks received Rs 15.31 lakh crore (99.3 per cent) of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, when the note ban was announced, the RBI reportedly said.
This meant just Rs 10,720 crore of the junked currency did not return to the banking system as against initial estimates of Rs 3 lakh crore, presumed to be stashed away illegally to avoid tax, the report said.
Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg was quoted as saying that the objectives, like checking black money, terror-financing, promoting digital transaction and weeding out fake notes had been achieved. “I think demonetisation has achieved its objective quite substantially,” he reportedly said.
Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was quick to attack the government, saying the “country paid a huge price for demonetisation” as every rupee barring a small sum had come back to the RBI.
“Remember who had said that Rs 3 lakh crore will not come back and that will be a gain for the government?” he tweeted.
He suspected that the bulk of the currency not returned might be lying in Nepal and Bhutan, where Indian currency was acceptable, and some might have been lost or destroyed.
The Congress demanded an apology from PM for committing “a monumental folly that claimed the lives of 100 people”. Party spokesperson Manish Tewari reportedly asked: “What did this tuglaqi farman of the PM achieve?”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the RBI report vindicated TMC’s fears on demonetisation. She wondered whether the exercise was meant to allow black money holders to “quietly convert their money into white”.