Entire currency in circulation from Dec 31 legitimate: Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that from Saturday onwards, the entire currency in circulation will be legitimate, Friday being the last day to deposit the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in banks.

"With effect from tomorrow the entire currency in circulation would be legitimate," Jaitley told reporters at a press briefing here on Friday.

From Saturday the legitimate currency that would continue to be legal tender is Rs 100 and other lower denomination notes along with the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has printed, he added.

The deadline to deposit old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in banks ends on Friday.

Refusing to give any details on the deposits received in old notes post-demonetisation, he said that the data was yet to be tabulated.

"The banks will now have the re-circulated currency, plus what the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is injecting," Jaitley said.

The RBI on Friday asked the banks, which have accumulated old notes to deposit it in the office of the central bank or a currency chest by December 31.

The old notes cannot form part of banks' cash balances from the close of business as on Saturday, the central bank added.

From next week onward, those still holding the scrapped currency can deposit it only with the Reserve Bank of India till March 31, 2017.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 rupee notes would no longer be legal tender.

--IANS

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