MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the September 30 deadline for the exchange of Rs 2000 notes was decided so that people take the process seriously and it does not become endless.
“…Time is given up to September 30 (for exchange of notes) so that it is taken seriously, otherwise, if you leave it open-ended, it becomes a kind of an endless process”, Shaktikanta Das said in an interaction with the media.
“We have clearly explained in our press note that the Rs 2,000 notes were primarily issued for the purpose of quickly replenishing the value of money which was being taken out from the system when the legal tender status of then-prevailing Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was withdrawn..(demonetisation). That purpose has been fulfilled, today there are enough notes of other denominations in circulation”.
He said the move was part of the currency management operations of the RBI. “Let me clarify and re-emphasise that it is a part of the currency management operations of the Reserve Bank. For a long time, the Reserve Bank has been following a clean note policy. From time to time, the RBI withdraws notes of a particular series and issues fresh notes. We are withdrawing the Rs 2,000 notes from circulation but they continue as legal tender”, he said.
The RBI on Friday decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation, but said they will continue to remain as legal tender. It advised banks to stop issuing Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes with immediate effect.
The RBI said that citizens will continue to be able to deposit Rs 2,000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch up to September 30, 2023. (ANI)