The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday informed that the window for exchange or deposit of Rs 2000 banknotes at RBI regional offices will not be available on Monday, April 1.
The central bank cited operations related to “Annual Closing of Accounts” as the reason behind the unavailability of exchange and deposit services. However, the facility will resume on Tuesday.
About 2.4% of the just- withdrawn Rs 2,000 banknotes are still in circulation, about six months after the deadline to deposit or exchange them at bank branches is over.
This essentially meant 97.6% of the total value of the high-value Rs 2,000 banknotes were back in the banking system.
The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, the date on which RBI decided to withdraw the banknote. As of February 29, it has declined to Rs 8,470 crore.
The Rs 2000 banknote was introduced in November 2016 to meet the currency requirements of the economy expeditiously after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.
The objective of introducing Rs 2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities.
Therefore, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.
