New Delhi: Just 1.69 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes remain in circulation, with notes worth Rs 6,017 crore yet to be returned to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as of July 31, the government informed Parliament on Monday.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said the total value of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation had dropped sharply from Rs 3.56 lakh crore on May 19, 2023, to Rs 6,017 crore by the end of July.
He said that before the withdrawal of the high-value denomination, sufficient buffer stock of other denominations was ensured and supplied regularly to banks across the country to meet exchange and withdrawal requirements.
The Rs 2,000 note was introduced in November 2016 to quickly meet the currency demand after the demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. According to the minister, the objective of its introduction was fulfilled once other denominations became available in adequate numbers.
Nearly 89 per cent of these notes were issued before March 2017 and are nearing the end of their typical life cycle of four to five years, Chaudhary said, adding that the stock of smaller denomination notes remains sufficient to meet public demand.
“In view of this, and in line with the RBI’s ‘Clean Note Policy’, the decision was taken on May 19, 2023, to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination from circulation,” he said.