NEW DELHI: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das appealed to people not to wait till the deadline of September 30th for exchanging or depositing Rs. 2,000 currency notes and added not to panic either during the RBI's bimonthly monetary policy meeting on Thursday (8 June).

 "Please don't rush to exchange or deposit Rs. 2,000 notes at the last minute. There is no shortage of money; there are plenty of notes available for exchange. Avoid rushing or panicking, but don't wait until the final days of September, RBI governor Das advised on Thursday.

Shaktikanta Das  also put an end to rumours by expressly stating that RBI has not thought of eliminating Rs. 500 notes or reintroducing Rs. 1,000 notes.

The RBI made the decision to remove Rs. 2,000 from the system last month and justified it as a standard "currency management exercise". The final day to exchange or deposit Rs. 2,000 banknotes is 30 September 2023, according to the country's central bank. After that day, however, the notes will still be accepted as legal money.

As of March 31, 2023, banks have received 1.80 lakh crore banknotes, or about half of the 3.62 lakh crore total of Rs. 2,000 notes, according to a statement released by the RBI Governor.

Governor Das said, around 85% of the Rs. 2,000 notes have been returned to banks as deposits, with the remaining 15% being held for exchange. Approximately three-fourths of Indians are choosing to deposit the Rs. 2,000 notes into bank accounts rather than exchanging them for smaller denominations, according to a Reuters story published yesterday.

The State Bank of India (SBI), the largest state lender in India, has received around Rs. 170 billion in value terms in the first week since May 23, when the exchange/deposit process for the currency started.

According to an SBI official, 140 billion, or 82%, was placed into the account, with the remaining money being swapped. Also, officials from the Union Bank of India, Bank of India, and Bank of Baroda all stated that between 80% and 90% of the notes were deposited.

Up till May 30, Kotak Mahindra Bank had received more than Rs. 30 billion in notes worth Rs. 2000. The RBI has stated that there is no cap on depositing notes, however exchange is only permitted up to Rs. 20,000 each turn.

The influx is predicted to increase bank deposit growth from its present rate of 10.9% and decrease the amount of currency in circulation (CIC), which fell to Rs. 365 billion in the week ending May 26.

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