Demonetisation: Trying best to help the honest, says RBI

Mumbai: Terming demonetisation as a “once in a lifetime event” that requires mammoth logistics, RBI governor Urjit Patel on Sunday said the RBI is taking all necessary actions to “ease the genuine pain of citizens who are honest and who have been hurt” and hoped things will normalise at the earliest.

Speaking for the first time after the decision to withdraw old notes, Mr Patel who has been facing criticism for keeping silent, also said the situation is being monitored on a daily basis while printing presses have started to rebalance the production of new notes towards replacing the old Rs 100 and Rs 500 bills.

Rare to move 86 per cent of currency in one go: Governor Urjit Patel
Giving details of the steps being taken by the RBI, he said, “Both the RBI and the government have been getting the printing presses to work at capacity to get the new notes available to meet demand.

“The RBI is interacting with the banks every day. They are telling us that the situation is gradually easing. The queues in branches and ATMs are shorter and the markets are starting to function, and there are no reported shortages of daily items of consumption.

“Also, about 40-50,000 people were deployed to refit the ATMs. Currency is available and banks are working in a mission mode to lift currency and take them to their branches and ATMs. The staff members of all banks have worked very hard, and we all owe them our gratitude,” Mr Patel said in an interview.

Mr Patel said, “This is a once in a lifetime event. It is very rare to remove 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in one go."