₹2,000 notes not printed since 2019, government tells Lok Sabha

The government on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that ₹2,000 currency notes have not been printed in the past two years even as the quantum of the highest denomination currency note has come down.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said 3,362 million currency notes of ₹2,000 denomination were in circulation on March 30, 2018, constituting 3.27% and 37.26% of the currency in terms of volume and trade respectively.

As of February 26, 2021, 2,499 million pieces of ₹2,000 notes were in circulation, constituting 2.01% and 17.78% of banknotes in terms of volume and value, respectively.

Printing of banknotes of a particular denomination is decided by the government in consultation with the RBI to maintain desired denomination mix for facilitating transactional demand of the public. “During the years 2019-20 and 2020-21, no indent has been placed with the presses for printing of ₹2,000 denomination banknotes,” he said.