Govt stops printing new Rs 2,000 notes: Report

New Delhi, Jan 3: The government has stopped printing new Rs 2,000 currency notes in its bid to gradually stop their circulation, ThePrint reported on Thursday.

The decision has been taken on the back of suspicion in the government that the currency note was being used for hoarding, tax evasion and money laundering.

As many as 328.5 crore Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation in 2016-17. However, the latest RBI report released in August 2018, revealed that only 7.8 crore notes of Rs 2000 denomination were added in 2017-18, taking the overall circulation to 336.3 crore, as of March 2018.

The report revealed that the share of Rs 2000 notes has come down to 37.3 per cent in March 2018, down by 13 per cent from 50.2 per cent as of March 2017.

The Rs 2,000 note was introduced in November 2016 after demonetisation. To counter the massive cash shortage, the government introduced new Rs 2,000 notes.

The Modi government underwent faced heat over the decision as the Opposition alleged that the decision was taken out of the blue without proper planning and motive.

It has been speculated for long that the government would demonetise the Rs 2,000 note. This speculation was at its peak on the first anniversary of demonetisation.