RBI releases first annual report after demonetisation: Here's what RBI spent on currency printing and found in black cash
Close to 99 per cent of the scrapped old 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes have come back into the banking system, according the RBI's annual report released on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank's annual report for 2016-17 discloses that Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the junked currency has made its way back into bank accounts across the country, leaving out only Rs 16,050 crore in black cash that has been weeded out.
As on November 8, 2016 there were 1,716.5 crore pieces of Rs 500 and 685.8 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 in circulation, adding up to a total of Rs 15.44 lakh crore. RBI said just 8.9 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 notes or 1.3 per cent of the scrapped ones have not returned. It, however, did not give a specific number for the old 500 rupee notes.
"Subject to future corrections based on verification process when completed, the estimated value of specified bank notes (SBNs) received as on June 30, 2017 is Rs 15.28 lakh crore," the RBI said.
The RBI, which had so far not disclosed the actual amount of junked currency that had been deposited in bank accounts after the shock demonetisation announced by the Modi government on November 8 last year. Post-demonetisation RBI spent Rs 7,965 crore in 2016-17 on printing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 and other denomination notes which is more than twice the Rs 3,421 crore spent in the previous year.
The RBI also stated that just 7.1 pieces of Rs 500 note per million in circulation and 19.1 pieces of Rs 1,000 notes per million in circulation were found to be fake in its sample survey.
After the note ban, old notes were allowed to be deposited in banks, with unusual deposits coming under income tax scrutiny. A collateral damage as a result of rise in printing and other cost was the dividend RBI pays to the government. The apex bank said its income for 2016-17 decreased by 23.56 per cent while expenditure jumped 107.84 per cent.
The year ended with an overall surplus of Rs 306.59 billion as against Rs 658.76 billion in the previous year, representing a decline of 53.46 per cent, it said. The government has replaced old Rs 500 notes with new ones, but no replacement for Rs 1,000 notes has been made.
Instead, a new Rs 2,000 note was introduced after the ban. RBI said there are as many 588.2 crore of Rs 500 notes in circulation as of March 31, 2017. As of March 31, 2016, there were 1,570.7 crore Rs 500 notes in circulation.
As many as 328.5 crore pieces of new Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation as on March 31, 2017. Besides, new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, the RBI has also circulated new Rs 200 notes last week.
Former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi said demonetisation will have long-term impact. Expectations of various quarters that sizable portion of the demonetised currency won't return has not been fulfilled.
