Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, blasted the BJP-led central government on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation. She called the announcement a “billion dollar dhoka” and urged the public to hold those responsible for it accountable. The RBI stated on Friday that it would stop printing banknotes with a face value of Rs 2,000 but keep them in circulation as legal money.

The West Bengal CM stated in a tweet, “So it wasn’t Rs 2000 dhamaka but a billion dollar dhoka to a billion Indians. Wake up my dear brothers and sisters. The suffering we have endured due to demonetisation can’t be forgotten and those who inflicted that suffering shouldn’t be forgiven.” The RBI has instructed banks to immediately stop issuing notes with a denomination of Rs 2000. Up to September 30, 2023, citizens will still be able to deposit Rs 2000 banknotes into their accounts and/or swap them for notes of other denominations at any bank branch, according to the RBI. When the legal tender status of all 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes in circulation at the moment was withdrawn, the Rs 2000 denomination banknote was issued in November 2016 primarily to quickly address the financial needs of the economy.

Once banknotes in other denominations were sufficiently plentiful, the goal of introducing Rs 2000 banknotes was achieved. As a result, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was discontinued in 2018–19, according to the RBI. The predicted four- to five-year lifespan of around 89% of banknotes in the Rs 2000 denomination that were printed before March 2017 has come to an end.

The entire amount of these banknotes in circulation has decreased from Rs 6.73 lakh crore, which represented 37.3% of all notes in circulation as of March 31, 2018, to Rs 3.62 lakh crore, which represented only 10.8% of all notes in circulation on March 31, 2023. “It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public,” RBI stated Friday. “In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2000 banknotes into banknotes of other denominations can be made upto a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023,” RBI said. (ANI)