MUMBAI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Saturday it would extend its deadline to return the country's highest denomination 2,000-rupee ($24) currency notes by a week to Oct. 7.
The total value of 2,000-rupee notes in circulation was down to 140 billion rupees as of Sept. 29 from 3.56 trillion rupees as of May 19, the RBI said.
The RBI said 96% of the 2,000-rupee currency notes had been returned as of Friday, worth 3.42 trillion rupees ($41.19 billion).
The 2,000-rupee notes were introduced in 2016 to replenish currency in circulation after the government's shock move to demonetize the economy by scrapping other high-value banknotes.
However, the central bank has frequently said that it wants to reduce high-value notes in circulation and stopped printing 2,000-rupee notes four years ago.
Persons:
Siddhi Nayak, Giles Elgood
Organizations:
Reserve Bank of India, Siddhi, Thomson
Locations:
MUMBAI