In what will come as a blow to the government’s black money claims, and is likely to raise questions over the demonetisation exercise, The Reserve Bank of India is believed to have received deposits of Rs 14.97 lakh crore of an estimated Rs 15.4 lakh crore in junked Rs 500/1,000 notes by the end of the 50-day demonetisation deadline on 30 December, reports Bloomberg.
However, when India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley was questioned if the figure being quoted was indeed true, the Minister – who has been a vocal supporter for the demonetisation exercise – uncharacteristically chose to side-step the question by saying, “I don't know”.
Jaitley speaking to the media after the Goods and Services Tax Council meeting and pre-Budget consultation with state counterparts however did reveal that the Centre is hopeful of exceeding its Budget Estimates for 2016-17 in both direct and indirect tax collections.
We will end this year with higher revenues for both direct and indirect taxes compared to the estimates.Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister, India
RBI to Announce Deposited Amount in Next Few Days
Both the government and the RBI are yet to come out with the official statement on how much have been deposited in various banks at the end December 30, the last date for depositing and exchange of junked Rs 500/1000 notes.
According to sources, between Rs 14.5 lakh crore and Rs 15 lakh crore may have come back into the banking system and RBI is still doing reconciliation and cross-checking, reports PTI.
Sources claim that final figure on the amount of deposits received during the demonetisation period should be announced by RBI in the next few days.
The last official number on this was only till 10 December when RBI said that the old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, which have been returned to the central bank and the currency chest amounted to Rs 12.44 lakh crore.
There Could Be Addition to Number of Junked Noted
On the last day of demonetisation, RBI had asked all banks including cooperatives to report details of deposits of old Rs 500/1,000 notes to it after the close of banking hours.
Finance Ministry had said that there were lot of areas where double counting could have happened. So the Finance Ministry had identified those areas and had requested RBI and banks to again double check.
However, things could turn worse for the government as there could be slight addition in the deposit of junked notes as extended exchange facility is available to certain specified category.
(With Inputs from PTI, Bloomberg)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)