In a meeting with a Parliamentary panel today, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said that the bank had not calculated how much demonetized money received by them yet, neither could they commit time frame to submit the said information.
Sources told news agency ANI of the development.
The meeting, which was scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. has been summoned for members of the aforementioned panel to put forth any query they may have regarding the November 8 'notebandi' rolled out by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre, which resulted in a complete ban on the printing and circulation of currency notes worth Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000.
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With Patel not providing any particular figure, saying that counting of the notes was still in progress, many panel members expressed dissatisfaction with the RBI chief's replies.
After the meeting, a senior member said the governor did not provide any figure but gave details on remonetisation.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was present at the meeting, did not ask any question to the governor, according to three panel members.
Incidentally, it was Singh who had rescued Patel from a tough grilling during the January meeting when he intervened to say that the central bank and the governor's position as an institution should be respected.
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Earlier in January, Patel attended a meeting with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), wherein he assured that the cash crunch in the country post the November 8 demonetisation drive will normalise with the passage of time.
The RBI Governor had also appeared before Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance over the same issue during which he failed to disclose the amount of money that returned to the banking system post demonetisation.
In a surprise move on November 8, Prime Minister 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 the ATMs as well as from banks to deal with the shortage of new high-denomination currency notes. This led to long queues at the ATMs and bank branches.
Further Details Awaited
With Agency Inputs
