The finance ministry on Wednesday notified the introduction of the new Rs200 currency notes for the first time, paving the way for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to soon launch the notes to improve the circulation of lower-denomination currency notes. The new Rs200 notes could be in circulation by September 10, said an official source.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, however, made it clear that the government was not considering banning Rs2,000 notes. Recently the central bank introduced a new series of Rs50 currency notes. These new fluorescent blue notes in the Mahatma Gandhi series looked slightly smaller and slimmer than the existing Rs50 notes.

However, the government is not likely to relaunch the Rs1,000 bank notes, according to the source. The government had demonetised the old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes in November last year, replacing around 86 percent of the total value of currency in circulation. While the new Rs2,000 notes were launched to remonetise fast, the shortage of lower-denomination notes has been a problem for common man and small traders.

In a gazette notification on Wednesday, the department of economic affairs said: “In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 24 of the RBI Act, 1934 and on the recommendation of the central board of directors of the RBI, the central government hereby specifies the denomination of bank notes of the value of Rs 200.”