Two-thirds of Rs 2,000 notes returned within a month of withdrawal: RBI

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that within a month of the recall order, more than two-thirds of the Rs 2,000 currency notes have returned to the system. In a surprise move, but as part of the clean note policy, the Reserve Bank had on May 19 ordered the recall of the Rs 2,000 banknotes worth around R 3.62 lakh crore. On June 8, announcing the second monetary policy review of the fiscal, Das had said around Rs 1.8 lakh crore worth of the Rs 2,000 notes have been returned, accounting for approximately 50 per cent of the notes in circulation as of March 31, of which 85 per cent were in deposits and the rest in exchange.

However the national bank has set September 30, 2023, as the last day for trade/stores, Das said the cutoff time isn't something projected in stone and that, individuals need not hurry to guarantee their cash. A recent analyst report claimed that the move would lead to higher consumer spending, which has been under stress for some time, and that in turn would help prop the economy up and grow over the projected 6.5 per cent. "I don't see any negative impact of the note recall on the economy at all," Das said. The estimated life span of the 2,000 banknotes is four to five years, and approximately 89% of them were issued prior to March 2017.