Economic Affairs Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday refuted reports that the Reserve Bank of India was planning to introduce a new series of Rs 1,000 notes, saying that there were no such plans. Das tweeted the government was only focussing on the “production and supply” of Rs 500 notes and lower denominations.
Addressing the issue of cash shortage at ATMs, Das appealed to the public to only “[with]draw the cash they actually require”. “Overdrawal by some deprives others,” he said. On Tuesday, The Indian Express reported that the RBI and the Centre were considering the re-introduction of the Rs 1,000 note, which was demonetised along with older series of Rs 500 notes on November 8, 2016.
According to the Express report, the RBI had already started the production of the new Rs 1,000 note series and had been planning to introduce it in January. However, that plan was pushed back because of the shortage of Rs 500 notes. On February 8, RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi had said that notes worth Rs 9.92 lakh crore were circulating in the economy. The amount included notes from the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes introduced after demonetisation.
The demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, representing nearly 86% of the amount of liquidity in the economy, caused a cash crunch in the country. The move was heavily criticised by Opposition parties and economists, even as the Centre said it would help fight counterfeiting and terrorism. On February 17, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said that the Indian economy would suffer from a slowdown because of demonetisation, but would recover from it as well.
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