The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday announced that the weekly withdrawal limit from savings accounts would be raised to Rs 50,000 from February 20, from the Rs 24,000 it is now. It said there would be no such cap from March 13 onwards. From February 1, the RBI had revoked limits on the withdrawal of cash from ATMs.
RBI Deputy Governor SS Mundra said that cash worth Rs 9.92 lakh crore was in circulation till January 27, including the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. He also gave his assurance that the new bills – issued after the Centre demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November – were “difficult to copy” and that the counterfeit ones found were photo copies.
The decision was announced soon after the sixth meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, at which the RBI kept its key rates unchanged. Addressing a press meet after the meeting, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said there was “still scope” for the lending rates to be cut.
Other announcements made included the establishment of a committee on cyber security to recommend steps to tackle online fraud. This is a significant move, given the Centre’s emphasis on moving towards a digital economy.
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