Over Rs 5 lakh crore deposited in 10 days since demonetization, Rs 1 lakh crore withdrawn

Around 37 percent of the now demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes that were in circulation have been exchanged or deposited with banks till November 18, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.

According to the RBI, old notes amounting to over Rs 14,50,000 crore were in circulation before demonetization.

“Consequent to the announcement of withdrawal of legal tender status of bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations from midnight of November 8, RBI made arrangements for exchange/deposit of such notes at counters of the RBI, commercial banks, regional rural banks and urban cooperative banks,” the central bank said in a statement.

Over Rs 5 lakh crore worth of deposits have been made in the ten days since the notes were discontinued.

“Banks have since reported that such exchange/deposits effected from November 10 up to November 18, amounted to Rs 5,44,571 crore – exchange amounted to Rs 33,006 crore and deposits amounted to Rs 5,11,565 crore,” the statement added.

“They have also reported that the public have withdrawn, during this period, Rs 1,03,316 crore from their accounts either over the counter or through ATMs.”

Meanwhile, the government has also managed significantly to reduce the transportation time of cash from printing to distribution stage with the help of helicopters and IAF airplanes.

With this new and faster means, the transportation time of cash has come down from 21 days to 6 days.

The speedy dispatch of cash to distribution centers is expected to go a long way in easing the market’s current cash-crunch and help restore local business.