RBI to soon issue Rs.20, Rs.50 notes

The Reserve Bank of India on Sunday said it would soon issue new Rs 20 and Rs 50 denomination notes. The banning of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes through a decision on demonetisation on November 8 had created a shortage of currency in the market as the government could not replace them with equal number of new notes.

The old notes of Rs 20 and Rs 50 will remain legal tender, the RBI said in a statement. The new Rs 20 notes will be issued with inset letter ‘L’ in both the number panels while the new notes of Rs 50 will be issued without an inset letter in either of the number panels.

The new notes will have the signature of RBI Governor Urjit Patel and the year of printing, 2016, on the reverse side. The design and security features of these banknotes will be similar to the earlier banknotes as opposed to Rs 500 notes which were issued with



a complete new look. “The new Rs 50 notes will have ascending font of numerals in both the number panels and without intaglio print issued earlier in Mahatma Gandhi Series,” the RBI said.

The lower denomination notes may come handy for payment of most of the commodities and items of daily use where Rs 2,000 are less convenient. According to top government sources, the move may be a precursor to phasing out Rs 2,000 currency notes.

Although, there is no official announcement on phasing out of high denomination notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently said that his government would put a lid on printing of more currency notes. He also said that more high denomination notes would only give rise to black money. Sources said a large number of lower denomination notes will be available in the market for public convenience.