New Delhi: The ruling government in India have suddenly stopped printing of Rs 2000 denomination notes stated a highly placed official.
It is a decision taken in a bid to slowly reduce the denomination’s circulation said the official, HT reported.
This move to cut in circulation does not mean the Rs 2,000 notes will become invalid but it will simply be gradually phased out.
According to the ruling government, this high-denomination note was being used for money laundering, tax evasion etc.
However, India’s Central Bank- RBI, the currency-issuing agency in the nation did not respond to an email from ThePrint which published the government officials statement.
India’s Highest-denomination Rs 2,000 note was introduced in November 2016, after the government demonetized Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations as part of an exercise as a crackdown on black money following which the ruling government has flooded the nation with the new notes to counter the massive cash shortage.
According to data related, the total value of the currency in circulation was Rs 18.03 lakh crore, of which Rs 6.73 lakh crore, or 37 percent, was in Rs 2,000 notes, and Rs 7.73 lakh crore, approximately 43 percent, in Rs 500 notes, as of March 2018.
The ruling party’s decision to introduce the Rs 2000 denomination note canceling the existing Rs 1000 note was condemned as opposition parties that argued the new note would further help money launderers and tax evaders.
Proves that opposition was not all wrong about the new note as the ruling government’s decision has backfired on the party’s stated aims for demonetization.
These fears seemed to have come true last April when many Indian cities reported a massive cash shortage.
The government, as well as the opposition, suspected cash hoarding ahead of state elections, as well as stocking of money by people in the aftermath of the PNB-Nirav Modi bank fraud.
The income tax department too confirmed massive seizures of Rs 2,000 notes during this period.