The value of the withdrawn Rs 2,000 currency note in circulation has continued to fall, with only Rs 84,000 crore of them remaining outside the banking system, the finance ministry has informed the Parliament.
"According to RBI, as on 30.6.2023, the value of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes in circulation is Rs 0.84 lakh crore and the percentage of Rs 2000 denomination in total banknotes in circulation is 2.51 percent," Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on July 24.
The update from the government on the matter is the first official one after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said on June 8 that around Rs 1.8 lakh crore of these notes had returned to the banking system.
As on March 31, there was Rs 3.62 lakh crore worth of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation.
The RBI had announced the withdrawal of these high-denomination notes on May 19, quickly drawing comparisons with the demonetisation of late 2016. Speculation had been rife that an ulterior motive for the May 19 decision was the elimination of black money, although RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das did not mention this as an objective of the decision.
In the question in the Lok Sabha on July 24, the finance ministry was also asked "whether the Government is planning to demonetise other high denomination currency notes to eliminate black money". Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said this was not the case.
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Chaudhary also said the government is currently not considering extending the deadline for the exchange of the Rs 2,000 note beyond September 30.
When asked if there is any shortage of lower denomination notes, Chaudhary said this was not the case.
"As per RBI, currency in denomination of Rs 10 and Rs 20 is available either in the form of banknotes or coins. As regards currency in denomination of Rs 50, adequate quantity of banknotes are available for the use of the members of the public. Hence, there is no shortage of currency," the minister said.
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