`1,000 note isn’t coming back anytime soon: Das

The government has no plans to reintroduce `1,000 notes, economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday

NEW DELHI: The government has no plans to reintroduce ₹1,000 notes, economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday, over three months after the decision was taken to scrap ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes to aid the fight against black money, corruption and terror funding.

Das tweeted: “No plans to introduce ₹1000 notes. Focus is on production and supply of ₹500 and lower denomination notes”.

There was speculation that the ₹1,000 note could make a comeback as consumers say they continue to face problems in carrying out transaction with the new ₹2,000 note.

Following reports that cash crunch at ATMs have resurfaced, Das urged Indians that they should withdraw only the money “they require”.

“Complaints of cash out in ATMs being addressed. Request everyone to draw the cash they actually require. Overdrawal by some deprives others,” he said in another tweet.

Das brushed aside claims of cash shortage and said in a tweet: “Enough cash available. Logistics issues of reloading ATMs more frequently being addressed.”

Last week, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the Reserve Bank was monitoring the cash supply on a daily basis.

The government’s demonetisation drive that sucked out 86% of the currency in circulation led to a severe cash crunch.

Following the note ban, the government and the RBI had placed several restrictions on withdrawing money from banks and ATMs, which have been gradually relaxed. Currently, one-time withdrawal of ₹50,000 is allowed from ATMs, and from March 1, all restrictions on withdrawals will be removed, RBI has announced.

“There could be a gap in refilling ATMs after banking hours. But I don’t think that there is any shortage of cash,” said a banking department official, who did not wish to be named.

She added that banks have adequate supply of cash to deal with the demand.