Fifty per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation — or Rs 1.8 lakh crore — have come back into the banking system since the announcement of their withdrawal last month, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said Thursday. On May 19, while announcing the withdrawal, the RBI had said the total value of these notes in circulation was Rs 3.62 lakh crore as on March 31, 2023. “After the announcement that we made, so far about Rs 1.8 lakh 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, 2023,” the Governor told reporters after announcing the monetary policy. When asked about separate details of the Rs 2,000 notes that have been exchanged or deposited in banks, the Governor said the figure needs a lot of reconciliation as there is some overlap in reporting. “We want to avoid any possibility of double counting and so, we are reconciling the figure. Broadly, on a provisional basis, I can say that about 85 per cent of the Rs 2,000 notes are coming back as deposits into bank accounts. This is in line with our expectation,” he said. Last month, the RBI said about 89 per cent of the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated lifespan of 4-5 years. The printing of these banknotes was stopped in 2018-19. The RBI has set a deadline of September 30, 2023, to deposit or exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes. Das advised the public not to rush to banks in panic to deposit or exchange the notes as there is enough time. However, one should avoid last-minute rush, he added. The Governor said the RBI is examining the representations received from Indians who are currently outside the country and are facing difficulties in exchanging or depositing Rs 2,000 notes. “Our endeavour will be to see that nobody is put into any inconvenience. We want to see that the whole process goes through very smoothly. So far, it is going very smoothly,” he said. To a question on whether RBI will reintroduce a Rs 1000 bank note or if Rs 500 note can be withdrawn, Das said the central bank is not thinking in these directions. “Therefore, there should not be any kind of speculation in the market,” he said.
