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In a bid to allay the fears of cash shortage in the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said there was more than adequate currency in circulation. He added that the temporary shortage of currency in some areas was being tackled.
“Have reviewed the currency situation in the country. Overall there is more than adequate currency in circulation and also available with the banks. The temporary shortage caused by ‘sudden and unusual increase’ in some areas is being tackled quickly,” he tweeted.
Shortage of currency is being reported in many parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Many ATMs machines are out of cash and bankers have admitted there is a cash crunch.
A 'no cash' board at an ATM. Photo: Kamal Narang
Finance Ministry in a series of tweets said that necessary steps are being taken to meet the unusual demand. "The Government is taking all steps to ensure that ATMs are supplied with cash and to get non-functional ATMs normalised at the earliest," it added.
In the first 13 days of the current month itself, the currency supply increased by Rs 45,000 crore. This unusual spurt in demand is seen more in some parts of the country like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, MP and Bihar, it added.
Setting up of committees
Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said the government has formed a committee to address the problem of currency shortage in certain states and the issue would be resolved in next 2-3 days. “The Government has set up state-wise committee and RBI has also formed a committee to transfer currency from one state to other because for money transfer you need the permission of the RBI. It (the shortage) will be solved in 2-3 days,” Shukla said.
An RBI report showed that the currency in circulation in the country had reached the pre-demonetisation level of about Rs 17 lakh crore.
'Imbalance in currency supply'
SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said it would not be correct to state that there is a currency shortage in the country. There has been an “imbalance” due to the crop procurement season, when demand for currency goes up.
He said Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are seeing heightened demand due to procurement season.
'Demonetisation days'
Hitting out at the government, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, ATMs were empty in November 2016. ATMs are empty now.
“The country is still paying the price of a sudden midnight Firman of demonetisation. Institutional damage under Modi has caused great hardship to the common Indian,” he added.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted the reports of ATMs running out of cash reminds of demonetisation days.
( With inputs from agencies)
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