The Centre on Wednesday confirmed that Rs 200 notes will soon be brought into circulation. The decision was made with the idea to ease the currency shortage in the country.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the finance ministry said, “the central government hereby specifies the denomination of banknotes of the value of two hundred rupees.”

Unidentified officials told The Economic Times that the new bills will be in circulation by the end of August or the first week of September. “There is no other denomination available between Rs 100 and Rs 500,” an official said. “The Reserve Bank of India is expecting Rs 200 notes to become very popular, and that is why it is taking every step to ensure its availability.”

On June 29, there were reports that the RBI had started printing Rs 200 notes at one of its facilities. The apex bank has not commented on the development yet.

The new notes will have additional security features to prevent counterfeiting operations. This is part of the Centre’s remonetisation plans. The RBI is believed to have approved a proposal to print Rs 200 notes on April 4.

This will be the second new denomination of currency to be introduced after the government demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2016. Reports had said new Rs 10 and Rs 100 notes would also be introduced.