Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday addressed the ‘cash-crunch’ issue saying that there is “more than adequate” currency in circulation and the temporary shortage in certain states is being “tackled quickly”.
According to media reports, states like Gujarat, Eastern Mahashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are dealing with the issue of currency shortage as citizens are turned away by out-of-cash ATMs.
Jaitley took to the micro-blogging site Twitter and wrote, “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 demand) in some areas is being tackled quickly.”
Have reviewed the currency situation in the country. Over all 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.
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) April 17, 2018
Meanwhile, a committee has been formed by the government to address the problem of currency shortage in certain states and according to the Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, 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.
As per a report of the Reserve Bank of India, the currency in circulation in the country has reached the pre-demonetisation level of about Rs 17-lakh crore.
It is being said that the problem has been caused due to some states having low currency reserves in comparison to others.
On Monday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had claimed there was a conspiracy behind Rs 2000 notes disappearing from the market.
“The currency worth Rs. 15,00,000 crore was in circulation before demonetisation. After the demonetisation exercise, the currency in circulation increased to Rs. 16,50,000 crore. But notes of Rs. 2,000 are missing from the market. Where these notes of Rs. 2,000 denomination are going, who are keeping them out of circulation? Who are the persons creating shortfall of cash? This is a conspiracy to create problems. The government will act tough on this,” he had said.
Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal is among one of the cities which has been hit severely hit by the cash-crush. It is reported that people have been complaining of emply ATMs since last 15 days.
(With agency inputs)