Half of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation back in system: RBI Governor

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said 50 per cent of the to-be-withdrawn Rs 2,000 notes came back to the system.

"Totally so far about Rs 180,000 crore of Rs 2000 notes have come back. This is roughly about 50 per cent of the Rs 2000 notes which were in circulation on March 31," RBI Governor Das said at a post-monetary policy meeting press conference.

About 85 per cent of those notes, on a provisional basis, have come back as deposits in bank accounts. he added.

"Good thing is that there has been no rush in any of the banks," Das said, appealing to people not to rush to banks in panic.

He particularly urged people to avoid the last-minute rush at bank branches.
On May 19, RBI decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes from circulation, but said it will continue to remain as legal tender. However, RBI has advised banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect.

People can exchange or deposit their Rs 2,000 notes in bank branches and regional branches of RBI. A non-account holder also can exchange Rs 2000 banknotes up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank branch.

September 30 has been decided as the last date for the purpose of completing the exercise in a time-bound manner and to provide adequate time to the public. RBI is likely to revisit the September deadline based on the situation going ahead.

The Rs 2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 under Section 24(1) of RBI Act, 1934, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.

The objective of introducing Rs 2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.

The total value of these banknotes in circulation had declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak as on March 31, 2018 (37.3 per cent of Notes in Circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8 per cent of Notes in Circulation on March 31, 2023. It was also observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions.