₹2,000 notes worth ₹14,000 cr still in circulation: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the last date to deposit or exchange ₹2,000 currency notes in banks until October 7, 2023, as the high denomination currency worth ₹14,000 crore is still in circulation.

Of the total value of ₹3.56 lakh crore of ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, ₹3.42 lakh crore has been received back leaving only ₹14,000 crore in circulation as of the close of business on September 29, 2023, the central bank says.

96% of the ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have come back to the banking system.

Banks will stop accepting ₹2,000 banknotes for credit to accounts or exchange to other denomination banknotes with effect from October 8, 2023. ₹2,000 notes can be exchanged into other denominations up to a limit of ₹20,000 at a time at any bank.

The exercise to exchange or deposit ₹2000 currency notes began on May 23 and was earlier scheduled to go on till September 30, 2023. On May 19, the banking regulator withdrew ₹2000 denomination notes from circulation, saying they are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4-5 years and not commonly used for transactions.

Even though ₹2,000 denomination notes continue to be legal tender, the central bank urged members of the public to deposit such notes into their bank accounts or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations without any further delay.

₹2,000 banknotes will continue to be exchanged by individuals or entities at the 19 Regional Offices of RBI having Issue Departments (RBI Issue offices) for credit to the bank accounts in India or exchange up to a limit of ₹20,000 at a time, the RBI says.

There were only 18,111 lakh pieces of ₹2,000 notes, constituting around 1.3% of the total volumes of currency in circulation as of March-end. The value of ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation stood at ₹3.62 lakh crore – about 10.8% of the total currency in circulation.

According to RBI’s annual report, the value of banknotes in circulation rose 7.8% year-on-year to ₹33.48 lakh crore in 2022-23 as compared with 9.9% during the previous fiscal. The share of ₹500 and ₹2,000 notes together accounted for 87.9% of the total value of banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2023, as compared to 87.1% as on March 31, 2022. In volume terms, currency in circulation increased 4.4% to 13,621 crore pieces during the year ended March 2023. ₹500 denomination constituted the highest share at 37.9%, followed by ₹10 denomination banknotes which constituted 19.2% of the total banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2023.