Indians still hold Rs 12,000 cr in Rs 2,000 notes that will go out of circulation soon

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said 2,000 rupee notes worth Rs 12,000 crore are still in circulation.

“Rs 12,000 crore of the Rs 3.56 lakh crore worth of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation as on May 19, 2023 are yet to come back,” Das said, while addressing a press conference post the announcement of key decision by the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Das’s statement came just a day ahead of the last date to exchange Rs 2,000. Earlier the deadline was September 30, which was extended to October 7.

Nearly 87 per cent of Rs 2,000 banknotes have been returned to the banks in form of deposits so far, the RBI Governor said.

On Saturday (September 30), the RBI had said Rs 3.42 lakh crore of notes had been received back as of September 29, and Rs 14,000 crore was yet to come back.

Das said the RBI wants to “emphatically” focus on the 4 per cent headline inflation target, and till the price rise number does not get down, the monetary policy will be “actively disinflationary”.

As the banker to the government, the RBI does not have any worry on the central government finances, Das said.

The “outlier” loan growth of 33 per cent as against the overall credit growth of 13-14 per cent made the RBI flag the issue of personal loans and prompt banks to take steps to avoid any risk build-up, Deputy Governor J Swaminathan said.

Das asked the financiers to “smell where the crisis is likely to come up” and take appropriate steps.

The governor also said that the gross non-performing assets have improved in the June quarter, if one were to go by the unaudited results.

With inputs from PTI