Modi cash ban a 'total failure' as 99% of banned notes are back

Mumbai

INDIANS have deposited nearly all the currency bills voided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, denting the central bank's profit and dealing a blow to his drive to unearth unaccounted wealth.

Banks have received 15.28 trillion rupees (S$324.4 billion), or 99 per cent of the currency invalidated, the Reserve Bank of India said in its annual report on Wednesday. The government had initially estimated that about five trillion rupees wouldn't be declared following the sudden move on Nov 9, indicating that this was cash stashed away illegally to avoid tax. The cash ban prompted the central bank to print new currency, reducing its profit and cutting annual dividend payout to the government by half.