Printing of ~2,000 notes halts, focus now on ~200

RBI MOVE More lowvalue currency to be in circulation to check cash imbalance

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stopped printing 2,000-rupee notes about five months ago, stepping up instead the production of smaller bills, including a new ~200, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The central bank is also unlikely to print more 2,000-rupee notes in the current financial year, they said on condition of anonymity.

The government brought in the 2,000-rupee note to quickly tide over a cash crunch from demonetisation, but less lowervalue currency in circulation meant people struggled to change the big denomination bill.

The RBI’s focus now on printing small bills is aimed at bridging that gap.

About 3.7 billion 2,000-rupee notes amounting to ~7.4 trillion have been printed, said one of the people cited above. That more than compensates for the 6.3 billion 1,000-rupee bills withdrawn from November 8.

“Most of the printing that’s being done, about 90% is only 500rupee notes. Nearly 14 billion pieces of new 500-rupee notes have been printed so far,” one of the people cited above said.

That is also close to the 15.7 billion old 500-rupee notes (amounting to ~7.85 trillion) withdrawn from circulation after November 8.

Not all the new notes printed so far have been released into circulation by the central bank.

The RBI data shows that currency in circulation stood at ~15.22 trillion as on July 14, eight months after demonetisation.