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.
“More than two-thirds or Rs 2.41 lakh crore worth of the Rs 3.62 lakh crore (as of March 31, 2023) of the now-recalled 2000 banknotes have come back to the system as of mid-last week,” Governor Das told PTI Bhasha in an interview at the RBI headquarters last week.
Of the total money that has come back to the system, as much as 85 per cent are in deposits and the rest in currency exchanges, he explained.
Though the central bank has set September 30, 2023, as the last day for exchange/deposits, Das said the deadline is not something cast in stone and that, people need not rush to claim their money.
Das also said the note recall will have no impact on the monetary stability but refused to comment on a recent analyst report that claimed that the move would lead to higher consumer spending, which has been under stress for some time, and which 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 central bank and the government project the GDP to clip at 6.5 per cent this fiscal, with Q1 printing in at 8.1 per cent and then tapering off in the subsequent quarters.
After issuing the recall order on May 19 and asking banks to open special counters to collect the notes from the public from May 23, the central bank said the existing 2,000 denomination banknotes would continue to be legal tender.
