50% of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation have come back to banks, reveals RBI

In about two weeks, almost half of the ₹2,000 currency notes in circulation, worth around ₹1.8 lakh crore, have come back to the banking system. Of this, 85% of ₹2,000 notes, which is ₹1.53 lakh crore has been deposited in bank accounts while the remaining were exchanged.

Either one can deposit the ₹2,000 currency note or exchange it with lower denomination currency but the exchange is allowed up to ₹20,000 at a time.

"We are reconciling the figures. But broadly, on a provisional basis, I can say that about 85% of the 2,000-rupee notes are coming back as deposits into bank accounts," said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.


The 2,000-rupee notes worth ₹3.62 lakh crore were in circulation as of March 31, 2023.

This is likely going to result in higher deposits for the banking system. Total deposits in the commercial banking system had grown 10.9% year-on-year to ₹183.7 lakh crore as on May 19. With 85% of the ₹2,000 currency note coming to banks, deposit growth may get a boost.

"We expected deposit and credit both to go up by ₹16 lakh crore in this year but with this, we expect deposit growth will improve further depending on how much gets retained in the banking system," said Anil Gupta, senior vice president at ICRA.

On May 19, RBI announced the decision to withdraw the ₹2,000 currency notes. RBI had asked people to deposit or exchange ₹2,000 currency notes from May 23. The notes can be deposited or exchanged by September 30. However, the RBI Governor made an appeal to avoid last minute rush in the last few days of September.

"Please avoid the last-minute rush in exchanging or depositing ₹2,000 notes. There is no shortfall in currency, we have ample notes for exchange. Don't panic, but don't keep it for the last days of September," Das said.