Modi warns of further action against corrupt, Jaitley shares currency exchange stats

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted at further actions against those hoarding black money while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley shared statistics about the currency exchange till date, in two separate addresses earlier today.

PM Modi on Saturday said those holding unaccounted money will not be spared and that there is no ‘guarantee’ that no further steps would be taken after December 30. But he assured honest people that they will not face any trouble.

“I would like to announce once again that after the end of this scheme, there is no guarantee that something new will not be introduced to punish you (thikane lagane ke liye),” Modi said.

Modi was addressing the Indian community at an event in Japan’s Kobe.

“I make it very clear that if anything unaccounted comes up, then I will check its records since Independence. Will deploy as many people as required for this. Honest people will not face any problem. No one will be spared. Those who know me, they are intelligent as well. They think it is better to offer it in Ganga than in banks,” Modi said.

He was referring to reports of the demonetized Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes flowing in Ganga river.

Modi termed the demonetization as ‘Swachhata Abhiyan’ and hailed the spirit of people despite their hardship following its announcement on November 8.

“I salute my countrymen. People stood in line for four hours, six hours but accepted the decision in national interest the way people of Japan tackled the aftermath of the 2011 disaster,” he said.

“I thought long and hard about the possible difficulties and it was also important to keep it a secret. It had to be done suddenly but I never thought I will receive blessings for this,” he added.

Back home, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley highlighted the scope of the operation by sharing details about the currency exchange, while interacting with the media earlier today.

Jaitley said around Rs 2 lakh crore has been deposited till 12.15 pm on Saturday in banks across the country, following demonetisation of high value notes.

From Thursday till today 12:15 pm, the SBI alone has carried out 2.28 crore transactions, including cash deposits, withdrawals, cash for cash exchange, cash for ATM and cash deposit machines.

 “The largest banker in the country State Bank of India (SBI) saw deposits of Rs 47,868 crore till Saturday afternoon,” Jaitley said.

SBI’s deposit is around 20-25 percent of the total deposits in all the banks in the country, he said.

Jaitley also said that despite allegations by opposition parties that there was spike in bank deposits leading up to the demonetisation announcement, no such spike has been seen in any month, except September 2016.

“That month the increase was because of money released on account of the Seventh Pay Commission payments,” he added.

Therefore, there is no substance in the allegations that information about demonetisation was leaked.

Jaitley clarified that it will take another 2 to 3 weeks to recalibrate ATMs across the country for the new notes.

“It will be a slow process,” he said, adding that the goal of this operation is to clean transactions and money.