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India to remove cash withdrawal limits in March

Xinhua, February 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), announced Wednesday all limits on cash withdrawals would be removed entirely from March 13.

"The limit on cash withdrawal from savings bank account will be enhanced to 50,000 rupees (744 US dollars) from the current 24,000 rupees (357) from Feb. 20," RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi said in a press conference in Mumbai. "From March 13, there will be no limit on cash withdrawal from savings accounts."

The cap on cash withdrawals was imposed in India in November last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered scrapping of all 500 (7.40 U.S. dollars) and 1,000 rupee notes will be withdrawn from the country's financial system. The banned currency notes estimated to be 85 percent in the cash-reliant country.

The sudden announcement of scrapping the high value notes caused anxiety among Indian citizens and resulted in huge disruption to daily life. Long queues outside banks and ATMs became a daily spectacle across cities and villages in India.

Modi initially described the move of demonetisation as a step towards crackdown on black money, however the government later term the exercise as move towards cashless economy. Endit