RBI says 88% of Rs 2,000 notes back in banks returned to banks as of July 31

financialexpress.com:

The RBI on Tuesday said about Rs 3.14 trillion or 88% of the total Rs 2,000 bank notes in circulation as on May 19 have been returned by the public to banks as at the end of July 31. About Rs 42000 crore in the form of Rs 2,000 bank notes were still in circulation as of July 31, the RBI said.

Data collected from major banks, RBI said, indicates that out of the total banknotes in Rs 2,000 denomination received back from circulation, about 87% was in the form of deposits and the remaining around 13% has been exchanged into other denomination banknotes over bank counters.

With 88% of the Rs 2,000 bank notes being returned, About Rs 42000 crore in the form of Rs 2,000 bank notes were still in circulation as of July 31, the RBI said.

“Members of the public are requested to utilise the next two months to deposit and/or exchange the Rs 2000 banknotes held with them to avoid any rush in the last few days before September 30, 2023,” the regulator said.

The RBI had recalled Rs 2,000 bank notes from circulation on May 19 citing that the currency in circulation had already declined steeply from its March 2018 peak of Rs 6.73 trillion to Rs 3.62 trillion level as of March 2023. Further, the regulator noted that the denomination was not commonly used for transactions by the general public and that the withdrawal would also serve the RBI’s “clean note policy”.