It was time for the BJP government to say 'Mea Culpa', said former finance minister P Chidambaram after the Reserve Bank of India came out with its annual report.

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'Mea Culpa' is a Latin phrase which means 'through my fault'.

Chidambaram said that he could not say whether the returned demonetised currency was 'black or white'.

The central bank, in its report, said that 99.3 percent of the money in circulation in financial year 2016-17 has come back into the banking system post demonetisation.

The total value of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in circulation was Rs 15.41 lakh crore, while the total value of demonetised notes returned from circulation is Rs 15.310 lakh crore, RBI wrote in its annual report.

The government has shifted its goalpost every month or even every week sometimes, Chidambaram said, adding that the same results could have been achieved without demonetisation.

Tax being a major source of government revenue, Chidambaram thinks that tax compliance would not be a benefit for demonetisation.