pti n mumbai
, Aug 29 () Despite the many an effort to shift to digital payments and usher in a digital payment economy, the currency in circulation has jumped by a hefty 17 percent to Rs 21.10 lakh crore as of March 2019, the Reserve Bank says in its annual report for 2019.
The demand for the Rs 500 bill, which is the second highest denomination after the Rs 2,000 note, has soared the highest and now accounts for over 51 percent of the value of currency in circulation, says the report released Thursday.
“The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 17 percent and 6.2 percent to Rs 21.10 lakh crore and 1,08,759 million pieces, respectively, in FY19,” the report says.
It can be noted that one of the objectives of the note-ban of November 8, 2016 rendering as much as 86 percent of the outstanding bill useless and had a crippling impact on the economy as a whole, was to encourage digital payments and bring down the use of cash.