Demonetisation: More Rs 500 notes coming in circulation, says Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said a large part of currency has been replaced and more notes of Rs. 500 are about to be released. “Remonetisation has substantially advanced and not a single incident of unrest reported,” he said. Jaitley said that the impact of demonetisation is clearly visible with the India's tax collection figures seeing double-digit growth. "The impact of demonetisation on tax revenue and collection is already visible. There has been a 26.2 per cent increase in central indirect tax collection till November 30," he said at a press conference here, adding till December 19, direct tax collection increase has been to the extent of 14.4 per cent against a growth rate of only 8.3 per cent previous year. Till December 19, the net increase in direct taxes has been 13.6 per cent after factoring in the refunds, he said. "In the central indirect taxes there is an increase of 26.2 per cent till November 30. Excise duty is up by 43.5 per cent, service tax by 25.7 per cent and custom duties up by 5.6 per cent," Jaitley said. "Notwithstanding the critics, it is a very significant increase in all indirect taxes till November 30," he added. Life insurance, tourism, petroleum consumption, flow of mutual fund investment have all increased during this period, the Finance Minister said. Jaitley said demonetisation has brought a large part of money into the formal banking system which has increased the ability of the banks to lend. On the liquidity situation in the markets, he said that a major part of the demonetised currency has been replaced with new notes and circulation of Rs 500 has increased. With the 50-day period for depositing of demonetised notes expiring tomorrow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the nation before the dawn of the New Year. In a message to those criticising note ban, Prime Minister Modi had earlier asked people to show patience for 50 days as the decision had been taken keeping national interest in mind. Prime Minister had also promised that the situation will normalize after that. (With inputs from agencies)