Cash withdrawal limit to be Rs 50,000 from February 20; no limit from March 13

The limits on savings bank cash withdrawals post-demonetisation are to be withdrawn in two stages, the Reserve Bank of India announced on Wednesday, with the limit slated to go up to Rs,50,000 per account from February 20 and to cease from March 13.

The announcement was made by RBI Deputy Governor R. Gandhi following the fiscal's last monetary policy review announcement by the central bank at which it kept its key interest rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent, saying it awaited data on the full impact of the government's demonetisation drive three months ago.

On January 30, the RBI had ended all curbs on withdrawals from Current Accounts, Cash Credit Accounts and Overdraft Accounts.

The limits were placed following the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. The upper limit at ATMs was just Rs 2,500 initially and was later raised to Rs 4,500.

In January, the RBI had hiked the daily ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 and doubled the weekly Current Account withdrawal limit to Rs 1 lakh.

The upper limit for weekly withdrawal from bank accounts had been raised to Rs 24,000 from Rs 20,000 in November.

While lifting of ATM withdrawal limits from March 13 will represent coming full circle for these machines in respect of demonetisation, it is to be seen whether the amount of cash supplied by RBI will be able to satisfy the demand of citizens in future.

--IANS

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