RBI's boss Urjit Patel echoes Narendra Modi on demonetisation

Ever since PM Narendra Modi annnounced demonetisation on November 8, the Reserve Bank of India's governor Urjit Patel was under continuous criticism for not saying enough on the issue. However, on Wednesday, addressing the media, Urjit Patel broke his silence and echoed the government's sentiments on the note ban.

He sai,"Themotivation for the decisions were to deal with the problem of counterfeit notesand unearth black money that may be held in cash."

Patel said that many people are appreciating the note ban and the move will benefit the country in the long run. He also assured the country of banks having enough cash to deal with the current situation.

"The centralbank and the government were conscious of certain immideitae difficult for thepublic at large and all steps were taken to mitigate them," he further added.

In a query over the number of notes banks have received,he said, "Over 19 billion new currency notes have been issued since demonetisation came into effect."

Governor Patel also added that the RBI has recalibrated production in last two weeks to print more Rs 500 and Rs 100 notes.

RBI also said the total value of notes that had been deposited in banks in the form of old currency so far is Rs 11.55 lakh crore.

Apart from this, he also talked about inflation and said that the 7th pay commission did not disrupt the inflation outlook. On Wednesday, the RBI announced that it has decided to keep repo rate and reverse repo rate unchanged.