The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will release a new series of Rs. 1,000 notes in a few months, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. He said Rs. 2000 note was introduced keeping in mind the convenience of the people and the inflationary pressures.
“The RBI is going to monitor the release of the Rs 2000 notes, and in due course, within a few months, the Rs 1000 note will be reintroduced into the market with completely new dimensions, new design and new colour from the old one,” Mr Das said while speaking at the Economics Editors’ Conference.
“The RBI had initially said that, looking at the way inflation is progressing, it should introduce Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 notes,” added Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was also speaking at the conference. “But the government did not agree to this. The reason we decided on Rs 500 and Rs 2000 is because of the handling convenience, and once all the money is in the banking system, then there won’t be any incentive to again convert it to black.”
The Finance Minister also assured that nobody would face any questions or harassment for small deposits made in banks.
“There has been an Indian tradition to keep small amounts of cash at home for exigencies and emergencies,” Mr. Jaitley added. “They can exchange that and deposit it in their accounts and the revenue department is not going to take notice of these small depositors. It’s only those with large amounts of undisclosed money who will have to face the consequences under the tax laws.”
