The Reserve Bank of India didn’t print a single currency note of Rs 2,000 in 2019-20, according to RBI Annual Report. The decision was aimed at bringing down the share of Rs 2,000 notes in total currency under circulation, which has come down from at least 50% in 2016-17 to just 22% in 2019-20.
The number of pieces of Rs 2,000 denomination notes constituted 2.4% of the total volume of notes at end-March 2020, down from 3% at end-March 2019 and 3.3% at end-March 2018.On the other hand, the flow of currency notes of denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 200 has gone up to a large extent, both in terms of volume and value over the 3 years from 2018.
The supply of banknotes during 2019-20 was also lowered by 23.3 % than in the previous year mainly due to the turmoils caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown,” it said.On Rs 500 denomination notes, the RBI said indent for printing of 1,463 crore pieces were issued and 1,200 crore pieces were supplied during 2019-20. The Reserve Bank also said it has undertaken several initiatives to introduce varnished banknotes in Rs 100 denomination on a field trial basis.However, the process of printing of these notes has been delayed due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and certain other developments.
A government official said on condition of obscurity that the Rs 2,000 notes were introduced in 2016 to quickly fill the gap created by demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.Gradually, with increased supply of smaller notes, including new notes of Rs 100 and Rs 200, and with growing popularity of digital transactions, the urgency to issue new Rs 2,000 notes is no longer there, the official said.“But, this does not mean that there is any move to discontinue Rs 2,000 notes,” the official added.
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