NEW DELHI: In an interaction with media persons on Monday, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said that an estimated Rs 17,000 crore worth of Rs 2,000 currency notes has either been deposited or exchanged by India’s largest public sector bank, within days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that Rs 2,000 banknotes were being withdrawn from circulation.
The SBI chairman was attending an official function when he decided to reveal the amount of Rs 2000 denomination currency notes either deposited or exchanged by SBI since the withdrawal announcement.
While speaking with reporters on Monday at GIFT City, Khara elaborated, "Rs 3,000 crore has been exchanged and Rs 14,000 crore has been placed in accounts. Generally speaking, we have roughly 20% of the market.”
Although the Rs 2,000 banknotes were taken out of circulation by the Reserve Bank of India on May 19, they will continue to be accepted as legal money. RBI also advised banks to immediately stop issuing banknotes having a value of Rs 2,000 and their printing has also been stopped.
The announcement by RBI stipulates that any bank branch can be used by the people to deposit Rs 2,000 banknotes into their accounts or swap them for notes of other denominations until the last date of September 30, 2023.
However, a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time has been imposed for the exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations at bank branches across the country. There will be no charge by the banks on the exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into other denominations.
Meanwhile, the RBI says that deposit into bank accounts by customers can be made in the usual manner, and that there will be no restrictions, nor will they be subject to extant instructions and other applicable statutory provisions.
The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced after the sudden demonetisation in November 2016 and mainly served to immediately address the economy's need for money following the loss of status of legal tender of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes that were in use at the time.
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