All measures being taken to ease citizens’ pain: RBI guv Urjit Patel on note ban

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel. Patel took over as governor on September 5, 2016. (AFP)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel. Patel took over as governor on September 5, 2016. (AFP)

RBI governor Urjit Patel has said the central bank was taking necessary actions to “ease the genuine pain of citizens” in the wake of the government’s demonetisation move, breaking his silence on the decision to scrap high-value banknotes about a fortnight ago.

In an interview to PTI, Patel said the central bank was monitoring the situation on a daily basis, urging people to start using cash substitutes such as debit cards and digital wallets. He said this will make transactions cheaper and easier, and help India “leapfrog into a less cash-use economy at par with more developed nations.”

This was the first-ever interview as RBI governor by Patel, who is known to keep a low profile.

Patel’s silence on demonetisation has been criticised by the opposition Congress party, which has said the RBI was kept in the dark on the surprise move. But the central bank governor got support from finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday.

After the Congress’s Jairam Ramesh said Patel was either guilty of misleading the nation about RBI’s preparedness or had sacrificed RBI’s autonomy, Jaitley termed the attack “unfair”.

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