Daily Current Affairs 20 May 2023 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 20 May 2023 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

RBI Withdraws Rs 2000 Notes

Source : Indian Express
GS III : Indian Economy

Why in News ?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000, from circulation

Existing Rs 2,000 notes can be deposited or exchanged in banks until September 30.
Set a limit of “Rs 20,000 at a time”.

It is the highest value currency note.
Rs 2,000 notes introduced during demonetisation in November 2016, when Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were withdrawn.
Exchange of Rs 2,000 notes, up to the limit of Rs 20,000 at a time, will also be provided at the 19 regional offices of the RBI having issue departments from May 23.

There was the issue of soiled Rs 2,000 notes lying with the RBI.
Image by F1 Digitals from Pixabay
The other was that Rs 2,000 notes are not popular and they are just lying around.
Even at the peak of their being in circulation, they did not comprise much of the currency in circulation and at present they are only 10%-11% of the total currency.
About 89% of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017.
They are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4-5 years.
The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak as on March 31, 2018 to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8% of Notes in Circulation on March 31, 2023.
Rs. 2000 note is not commonly used for transactions.

Public need not worry as the withdrawal will be carried out in a time-bound and systematic manner.
Rs 2,000 notes that are currently in circulation will continue to be legal tender and people can continue to use them for transactions and also receive them in payment.
The move will have no immediate impact on public as they will get enough time to get them exchanged.

It was released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 November 2016 after the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes.
It has been in circulation since 10 November 2016.
It is a part of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series of banknotes with a completely new design.
This is the highest currency note printed by RBI.
No new notes of this denomination were printed during the 2019-20 financial year.

Features

The ₹2000 banknote is a 66 mm × 166 mm.
Obverse side featuring
- Magenta coloured note with the a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi
- The Ashoka Pillar Emblem
- Signature of Reserve Bank of India Governor.
Reverse side features
- Motif of the Mangalyaan to represent India’s first interplanetary space mission
- The logo and tag line for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.