Demonetization Numbers
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 4, 2017
1. A total of 685.782 crore Rs 1000 notes were demonetized on November 8th, 2016. As per RBI’s annual report, 676.882 crore Rs 1000 notes have been deposited in the banks as of March 31st, 2017. In other words 98.7% of the demonetized Rs 1000 notes are back into the banks.
2. A total of 1716.506 crore Rs 500 notes were demonetized on November 8th, 2016. As per RBI’s annual report, 1702.306 crore Rs 500 notes have been deposited in the banks as of June 30th, 2017. In other words 99.17% of the demonetized Rs 500 notes are back into the banks.
3. Currency worth Rs 15.44 lakh crore was demonetized on November 8th, 2016. As per RBI’s annual report, currency worth Rs 15.28 lakh crore has been deposited in the banks as of June 30th, 2017. In other words 98.96% of the demonetized currency is back into the banks.
4. The cost of printing currency notes increased significantly in 2016-17 because of the introduction of the new Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. While Rs 3762 crore was spent on currency printing in 2014-15, Rs 3421 crore was spent in 2015-16 and Rs 7965 crore was spent in 2016-17, an increase of more than 130%.
5. The number of fake currency notes (old Rs 500 & Rs 1000) detected increased to 3.18 lakh fake Rs 500 notes and 2.56 lakh Rs 1000 notes. This is after most of the old notes are back into the system. The number of such notes detected in 2015-16 was 2.62 lakh Rs 500 notes and 1.43 lakh Rs 1000 notes.
6. Even the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes could not escape the scourge of fake notes. In 2016-17, 638 fake notes of Rs 2000 and 199 fake notes of the new Rs 500 note were detected.
7. As on March 31st 2016, the total currency in circulation was Rs 16.41 lakh out of which Rs 500 and Rs 1000 made up for more than 86% by value. As on March 31st 2017, the total currency in circulation came down to Rs 13.1 lakh crore on account of demonetization. Rs 2000 notes alone accounted for 50% of the value while the share of Rs 500 notes came down to 22.5%. The share of both Rs 100 notes and other smaller denomination notes almost doubled.