Indian banks receive 2t rupees in cash as ATMs get depleted

Mumbai

INDIAN banks received 2 trillion rupees (S$41.7 billion) of cash after the government's Nov 8 surprise move to abolish high-denomination banknotes, as customers queued for hours to deposit or exchange the old bills and ATMs ran dry.

With the banned bills accounting for 86 per cent of money out of circulation, there is tremendous pressure on the nation's banking system to replenish the cash. More than 70 million transactions were recorded through midday on Nov 12, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement late on Saturday. There is adequate money in the currency chests at more than 4,000 locations and reconfiguration of dispensing machines will be completed within two weeks, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.