Top finance ministry officials to brief parliamentary panel on note ban tomorrow

Top officials of the finance ministry will brief a parliamentary committee tomorrow on the ramifications of demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes carried out a year ago, sources said.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by former minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily, has been looking into demonetisation, which was announced by the government on November 8 last year, and its impact on the economy.

According to sources, the committee would meet again on November 16 before finalising its report for submission to Parliament in the upcoming session.

As per the Lok Sabha website, representatives of Ministry of Finance (Departments of Economic Affairs, Expenditure, Financial Services and Revenue) are scheduled to brief the panel on "demonetisation of Indian Currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 and ramifications thereof".

The officials would also brief the committee on 'State of Indian Economy -- Challenges ahead".

Telecom Secretary and senior officials of the telecom ministry would brief the panel on infrastructure created to handle digital transactions in the country post-demonetisation in the last meeting on November 16, sources said.

The panel, they added, is unlikely to call Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel again.

Patel had earlier briefed the committee about the various aspects of note ban, through which about 86 per cent of the currency was scrapped.