RBI stops printing ₹ 2000 note; ₹ 200 note to be launched soon
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stopped printing the ₹ 2,000 currency notes and will not be bringing new notes of that denomination in the current financial year, according to a Livemint report on Tuesday.
Officials of the central bank reportedly told the newspaper that the RBI had also accelerated the process of printing the Rs 200 currency notes. The new notes are expected to start circulating by next month.
“About 3.7 billion ₹ 2,000 notes, amounting to ₹ 7.4 lakh crore, have been printed; that more than compensates for the 6.3 billion ₹ 1,000 notes that were withdrawn after demonetization on 8 November 2016,” Livemint said, citing an RBI source.
The RBI has reportedly already started printing the first batch of ₹ 200 note in June to ensure easy currency availability in the country.
In fact a report by SBI even says that the introduction of ₹ 200 note will fill in the “missing middle” even as the new currency in circulation (CIC) has already reached 84 per cent of the pre-demonetisation level.
The 19 July report from SBI’s economic research wing showed that cash on hand with banks was high at 5.4 per cent of currency in circulation, compared with 3.8 per cent before demonetisation. This shows that there is excess cash lying in ATMs or bank branches, most of which could mostly be ₹ 2,000 notes, according to the report.
The finance ministry took a decision in March to print the 200-rupee notes. Two Reserve Bank of India printing presses under Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited – an RBI subsidiary that prints banknotes – from Mysore and Salboni are producing them.
