Nothing abnormal about discrepancy between total currency & amount revealed: RBI

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said that there is nothing abnormal about the discrepancy between the total currency in circulation and the amount revealed in an RTI query. It is because the amount printed was not in circulation. Reserve Bank of India’s response to a RTI query added to confusion over the currency in circulation figures as the response said that as on November 8 the central bank held Rs 23.9 lakh crore as currency stock.

A spokesperson for the regulator explained that the total figure also includes the currency with its chests which have not been circulated to the public. The confusion arose because another official data showed that there was Rs 17.97 lakh crore worth of currency in circulation as of November 4.

According to the clarification the central bank held nearly Rs 6 lakh crore in its currency chests and since this currency was not put into circulation it did not form part of the central bank’s liabilities.

Over Rs 15 lakh crore worth of currency was withdrawn from circulation on November 8 after the government cancelled legal tender of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

The RTI query had also revealed that on November 8 the RBI held Rs 4.94 lakh crore worth of Rs 2000 notes while it did not hold a single new Rs 500 note, which were introduced in the system only later.