Indians still hold Rs 10,000 cr in Rs 2,000 notes being phased out

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said Rs 2,000 denomination notes are coming back and only Rs 10,000 crore worth of such notes are still with people. He exuded confidence that these notes would also be returned or deposited back. “Rs 2,000 notes are coming back and only Rs 10,000 crore is left in the system. The expectation is that the amount will also come back,” he said on the sidelines of the event here. Earlier this month, Das had said 87 per cent of the Rs 2,000 denomination notes being withdrawn have returned as deposits into banks while the rest has been exchanged across counters. On May 19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took the financial world by surprise when it declared its plan to phase out the Rs 2,000 note, which had been introduced in 2016 as part of a rapid remonetisation effort.

This followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to withdraw more than 88 per cent of the currency in circulation by invalidating the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Public and entities holding such notes were initially asked to either exchange or deposit them in bank accounts by September 30. The last date was extended to October 7.

On October 7, both deposit and exchange services at bank branches were discontinued. Starting October 8, individuals were provided with the choice of either exchanging the currency or having the equivalent sum credited to their bank accounts at 19 Reserve Bank of India locations.

Individuals or entities can exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes at the 19 RBI offices up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time. However, there is no limit on the total amount for getting Rs 2,000 notes credited into bank accounts.