Three-weeks to recalibrate ATMs, says Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has urged to have patience for the long-term benefit of the Indian economy. He regretted the inconvenience caused but requested people to corporate with the government. He also added that it would take upto three week to recalibrate the ATMs.

RBI and banks have stacked up enough currency to replace the Rs. 14 lakh crore worth of Rs.1000/500 notes, he added and also called Modi’s decision to scrap the high denomination currencies as a ‘massive operation’.

“ATMs could not have been calibrated (before the announcement) because of secrecy issue. Thousands of people are involved in recalibration exercise (and) secrecy could not have been maintained. Recalibration takes at least 2-3 weeks. It is a regret that people are being inconvenienced. Because a replacement of this magnitude will cause inconvenience as you have to go to the bank, you have to stand in a queue.”

“But once the money is available both in the system and more so in the banking system, the advantages of that to the economy and businesses will be far more. The capacity of the banks with all this additional capital to lend and support businesses is going to be far higher. And therefore medium term and long term advantages to the economy as against this temporary inconvenience or disruption, are far too many.”

Hitting back at opposition’s allegation that the bank deposits had surged before the demonetization was announced, Jaitley said the increase was primarily on account of the arrears of Seventh Pay Commission being paid.