New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel on Wednesday told the Parliament's standing committee on finance that discussions between the central bank and the government over the demonetisation issue began in early 2016, PTI has reported quoting sources.


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Patel also told the panel that Rs 9.2 lakh crore worth of new currency notes have been put into the system since demonetisation.


Urjit Patel met a parliamentary panel on finance today to answer questions about the country`s recent move to abolish 500 and 1,000 rupees notes, or 86 percent of the currency then in circulation, in a bid to unearth billions of dollars of unaccounted money.


About Rs 15.4 lakh crore worth 500 and 1,000 rupees notes were removed from circulation after the Nov 8 announcement from the government.


The panel is led by Congress leader Veerappa Moily. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh is also a part of the committee.


Senior officers, including Banking Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikant Das and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia have also attended the meeting and briefed the committee about demonetisation and its impact on the economy.


The RBI has been criticised for relinquishing its autonomy as the central bank of India to head the circulation of currency in the nation and blindly following the Union Government`s diktat.


The RBI is also said to have failed to carry out the necessary checks ahead of banning the high-end value currency notes.


Throughout the demonetisation drive, rules for cash withdrawal from the bank ATMs were also changed frequently.


There have also been demands to know how much of the 15.44 lakh crores in banned notes has returned to the banks.Patel will also be asked if the decision of demonetisation was legal and feasible enough.


The RBI Governor will also appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament on January 20.


With Agency Inputs