Demonetisation: Close to Rs 15 lakh crore back in banks, say sources

Deposits close to Rs 15 lakh crore are back in the banking system till December 31, government sources told CNBC-TV18. As per the Reserve Bank of India data, around Rs 15.4 lakh crore currency was demonetised after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced a ban on currency notes denomiated Rs 500 and Rs 1000. There is no word from the government or the RBI on the deposit numbers. Finance Ministry officials say the process of number crunching will take some time since some of the RBI counters are still open for NRI and foreign deposits.The last data from the central bank was on December 13, when they announced the banking system had received deposits worth Rs 12.4 lakh crore till December 10.According to experts, it is a failure on part of the government that the central bank is not revealing the deposit numbers. It is lack of transparency and probably an excuse to push away the question on why the demonetisation exercise was carried out. Video to follow...