New Delhi: Currency notes of Rs 2,000 were not printed at all in financial year 2019-20, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The central bank’s Annual Report for 2019-20 also showed that the supply of banknotes during the period was lower by 23.3 per cent than in the previous year, mainly due to the disruptions caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown.
The number of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation came down from 329.10 crore pieces in March 2019 to 273.98 crore notes in March 2020.
The quantity of Rs 2,000 denomination notes constituted 2.4 per cent of the total volume of notes at end of March 2020, down from 3 per cent at end-March 2019. Further, in terms of value, the share of Rs 2,000 notes has come down to 22.6 per cent at end of the financial year 2019-20, down from 31.2 per at the end of the previous financial year.
The report also said that compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 144.6 per cent, 28.7 per cent, 151.2 per cent and 37.5 per cent in counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 200 and Rs 500, respectively.
Counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 20, Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 declined by 37.7 per cent, 23.7 per cent and 22.1 per cent, respectively, it said.
“The total expenditure incurred on security printing during July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 was Rs 4,377.84 crore as against Rs 4,810.67 crore in the previous year mainly due to lower indent placed during the year,” said the report.
