Reserve Bank to issue Rs 200 notes shortly, confirms finance ministry; may ease currency shortage

The government today gave its go-ahead to the Reserve Bank of India to issue Rs 200 notes that will ease pressure on lower-denomination currency bills. The finance minisatry, in a notification, said that on the recommendations of the Central Board of Directors of the RBI, “the central government hereby specifies the denomination of banknotes of the value of two hundred rupees”. The new Rs 200 notes are likely to be in circulation shortly. Earlier PTI had reported citing sources that the central will issue new Rs 200 notes before the end of 2017. It will greatly help in narrowing the demand and supply gap in smaller-denomination currency bills. The RBI will have to notify the issuance of new Rs 200 bills. [caption id=“attachment_3964681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] This exercise of printing Rs 200 denomination notes is being undertaken to further improve the currency situation in the country, sources had told PTI. The government’s move is aimed at resolving the problem people are facing due to high-value Rs 2,000 notes. The central bank had decided to bring in Rs 200 notes in March after consulting the finance ministry, the PTI report said. The notes have reportedly gone through multiple checks for security and quality at government printing presses. The RBI had recently said it will soon introduce new fluorescent blue Rs 50 banknotes bearing the motif of ‘Hampi with Chariot’ that depicts India’s cultural heritage. The new denomination has motif of Hampi with Chariot on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is fluorescent blue," RBI said in a release The shortage of currency notes was triggered by the scrapping of high-denomination bills last year. In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of old notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, wiping out over 85 percent of the cash in circulation. The move was aimed at checking black money, counterfeit notes and terror financing. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) launched following the closure of 50-day demonetisation period did not draw a good response with only Rs 5,000 crore unaccounted income being declared under the amnesty scheme. The scheme was launched in December last year to enable people with black money to come clean by paying tax and penalty of 50 percent. (With inputs from PTI)