RBI says 93% of 2,000-rupee notes returned since May

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said 93 per cent of the country's highest denomination 2,000-rupee currency notes - worth Rs 3.32 lakh crore ($40.14 billion) - have been returned since its decision to withdraw them from circulation.

The RBI had said in May that it would withdraw these high-value notes, permitting their exchange or deposit until Sept. 30.

The total value of 2,000-rupee notes in circulation was down to Rs 3.56 lakh crore as of May 19, from Rs 3.62 lakh crore as on March 31 - the end of the last fiscal year - the central bank said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Rs 24,000 crore worth of these notes are in circulation, as of Aug. 31, it said.

Data collected from major banks indicated that about 87 per cent of the banknotes received by lenders was in the form of deposits, while around 13 per cent exchanged for other denominations, the RBI said.

The 2,000-rupee notes were introduced in 2016 to replenish the economy's currency in circulation after the Modi government's shock move in 2016 to demonetise the economy by scrapping high-value banknotes overnight.

However, the central bank has frequently said that it wants to reduce high-value notes in circulation and had stopped printing 2,000-rupee notes over the past four years.