HT Digital,
New Delhi, Dec 5: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has spent Rs 17,688 crore on printing Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes since 2016, as revealed by Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Finance, on Monday.
The RBI released these notes in November 2016, post the Centre’s decision to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes. About 89% of these Rs 2,000 notes were issued before March 2017 and are nearing their lifespan of four to five years, as per Chaudhary’s written response in the Lok Sabha.
He assured that there are sufficient banknotes in other denominations to meet the public’s currency needs. Public sector banks spent approximately Rs 32 crore to recalibrate ATMs for Rs 2,000 notes, with State Bank of India accounting for Rs 12.8 crore of this expenditure.
The total value of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation was about Rs 7.4 lakh crore during 2017-19, according to RBI data. However, no new Rs 2,000 notes were printed in subsequent years.
The RBI announced the withdrawal of these notes on May 19 under the Clean Note policy and advised citizens to deposit or exchange these notes at banks until October 7, extending the initial deadline of September 30 by a week.
