₹2000 banknote still legal tender, circulation drops to ₹8,470 crore: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced the withdrawal of ₹2000 denomination banknotes from circulation on May 19, 2023.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday disclosed a substantial decrease in the circulation of ₹2000 denomination banknotes since the announcement of their withdrawal. As per the latest data, the total value of ₹2000 banknotes in circulation has plummeted from ₹3.56 lakh crore on May 19, 2023, to a mere ₹8470 crore by February 29, 2024.
“Thus, 97.62% of the ₹2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned,” the central bank said in a release.
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The RBI also noted that ₹2000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.
"The facility for deposit and/or exchange of the ₹2000 banknotes was available at all bank branches in the country up to October 07, 2023. The facility for the exchange of the ₹2000 banknotes has been available at the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank (RBI Issue Offices) since May 19, 2023." the RBI release added.
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The ₹2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy expeditiously after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.
According to the RBI, the printing of ₹2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19 once the objective of introducing ₹2000 banknotes was met after banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities.
The status of withdrawal of ₹2000 banknotes is periodically published by the RBI.
