Skip to main content

Deposits post demonetisation have crossed Rs 4 lakh cr: Banks

SBI Alone Has Seen Rs 1.34L Cr Inflow: Chairman Bhattacharya
Total deposit mobilisation by banks crossed Rs 4 lakh crore on November 14, according to the Indian Banks' Association. The amount is expected to have since gone up as State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, has seen ā€œdemonetisation depositsā€œ grow from Rs 1.04 lakh crore on November 14 to Rs 1.34 lakh crore at 4pm on November 18.
According to SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, a large part of the deposits would be withdrawn as depositors get back to spending. But 10-15% of the money that citizens have been forced to deposit in banks should stay back, she said.

Speaking to TOI, Bhattacharya said that SBI has done 11 crore transactions since demonetisation and has collected deposits of Rs 1.34 lakh crore. Part of the reason for the higher number of transac tions was that a large number of citizens were turning up to exchange notes, with several suspected to be repeat visitors.

According to Bhattacharya, the mechanism for exchange of notes was being misused and even though there have been issues with supply of indelible ink, the talk of using it helped a lot. ā€œI think about 75% of the people were not doing their own stuff. They were being used by others to change money ,ā€œ said Bhattacharya. The SBI chief said that the re was an initial panic after customers saw ATMs run dry .ā€œThe empty ATMs were associated with a cash shortage.They did not realise that there are logistics issues and a need to recalibrate the machines,ā€œ said Bhattacharya. She added that ATMs are today playing a pivotal role in banking.

ā€œThere is no shortage of Rs 100 notes, but we have to be careful on how to give them out as they are also required in ATMs. We have given out a huge amount of Rs 100 notes, I think people are just not spending them. I have been requesting people that `for heaven's sake, spend.The RBI is constantly printing, so supplies will continue. So please spend. If you don't spend it, it will not go around'. This is the message we are trying to send,ā€œ said Bhattacharya.

ā€œThings are settling down.On an average, we used to do about 75 lakh ATM transactions daily before the demonetisation. In the last 24 hours, we have done 73 lakh transactions. So ATM transactions are sort of coming back up to speed,ā€œ she said. Of the 44,000 ATMs of the bank, around 13,000 are already dispensing Rs 2,000 notes. With all the ATMs now being functional, things have stabilised. ā€œWe are witnessing normal activity coming back. So employees are again starting to report how many loans they have given and all,ā€œ Bhattacharya said.

19TH NOVEMBER, 2016, THE TIMES OF INDIA NEW DELHI

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GST collection for November rises by 8.5% to Rs.1.82 trillion

  New Delhi: Driven by festive demand, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections for the Union and state governments climbed to Rs.1.82 trillion in November, marking an 8.5% year-on-year growth, according to official data released on Sunday. Sequentially, however, the latest collection figures are lower than the Rs.1.87 trillion reported in October, which was the second highest reported so far since the new indirect tax regime was introduced in 2017. The highest-ever GST collection of Rs.2.1 trillion was reported in April. The consumption tax figures highlight the positive impact of the recent festive season on goods purchases, providing a much-needed boost the industry had been anticipating. The uptick in GST collections driven by festive demand had been anticipated by policymakers, who remain optimistic about sustained growth in rural consumption and an improvement in urban demand. The Ministry of Finance, in its latest monthly economic review released last week, stated that I...

Budget: Startup sector gets new Fund of Funds, FM to allocate Rs 10K cr

  The Indian startup sector received a boost with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing the establishment of a new fund of funds (FoF) in the Budget 2025. The minister unveiled a fresh FoF with an expanded scope, allocating Rs 10,000 crore. The initial fund of funds announced by the government with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore successfully catalysed commitments worth Rs 91,000 crore, the minister said.   ā€œThe renewal of the Rs 10,000 crore commitment to the Fund of Funds for alternative investment funds (AIFs) is a significant step forward for the Indian startup and investment ecosystem. The initial Rs 10,000 crore commitment catalysed Rs 91,000 crore in investments, and I fully expect this fresh infusion to attract an additional Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in capital,ā€ said Anirudh Damani, managing partner, Artha Venture Funds.   Damani further added that this initiative will provide much-needed growth capital to early-stage startups, further strengthenin...