99.3% of banned notes returned to bank: RBI

As much as 99.3 per cent of the junked Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system, the RBI said today, indicating that just a miniscule percentage of currency was left out of the system after the government’s unprecedented note ban aimed at curbing black money and corruption.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has taken an awfully long time to count the currency that was returned in the limited period window provided by the government to exchange or deposit the demonetised currency, said in its Annual Report for 2017-18 that the exercise is finally over. Of the Rs. 15.41 lakh crore worth Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, when the note ban was announced, notes worth Rs. 15.31 lakh crore have been returned. This meant just Rs. 10,720 crore of the junked currency did not return to the banking system