RBI says 88 pc of Rs 2,000 notes valued at Rs 3.14 lakh crore returned to banks

Mumbai, Aug 1 (PTI) As much as 88 per cent of the Rs 2,000 currency notes have either been deposited or exchanged at banks, and only Rs 42,000 crore worth of such notes are with public as on July 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Tuesday.

The last date to exchange/deposit Rs 2,000 denomination notes is September 30.

In value terms, Rs 2,000 notes in circulation has come down to Rs 42,000 crore as on July from Rs 3.56 lakh crore on the day of announcement of withdrawal on May 19.

In a statement, the RBI said out of the total banknotes in Rs 2,000 denomination received back from circulation, about 87 per cent is in the form of deposits and the remaining around 13 per cent has been exchanged into other denomination banknotes.

The central bank, in a surprise move, on May 19 announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation but gave public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.

Unlike the November 2016 demonetisation when old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were invalidated overnight, the Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be a legal tender till September 30.

The total value of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation, which amounted to Rs 3.62 lakh crore on March 31, 2023 had declined to Rs 3.56 lakh crore as at the close of business on May 19, 2023.

According to the data received from the banks, the total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes received back from circulation is Rs 3.14 lakh crore up to July 31, 2023, the RBI said.

“Consequently, Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as at the close of business on July 31 stood at Rs 0.42 lakh crore. Thus, 88 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, have since been returned,” it said.

The RBI also asked the public to utilise the next two months to deposit and/or exchange the Rs 2,000 banknotes held with them to avoid any rush in the last few days before September 30, 2023.

It may be noted that RBI has not yet clarified what would be the status of Rs 2,000 notes in private hands after September 30.

After announcing demonetisation in 2016, the government had made it an offence to hold the withdrawn Rs 500 and 1,000 notes (beyond a specified limit) after expiry of the deposit deadlines.