Cash in circulation jumps 19.1 per cent from pre-demonetisation level

NEW DELHI : Currency in circulation (CIC) has jumped by 19.14 per cent to a record high of Rs 21.41 lakh crore as on March 15, 2019 from the pre-demonetisation level of Rs 17.97 lakh crore on November 4, 2016, indicating that cash is back in the reckoning in the financial system.

Despite the rise in digital transactions, CIC has increased by over Rs three lakh crore in the last one year from Rs 18.29 lakh crore in March 2018, according to the latest data available from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). After Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were withdrawn from the system in November 2016, CIC had fallen to around Rs 9 lakh crore on in January 2017. Cash in the system has been steadily rising even though the government and the RBI pushed for a “less cash society”, digitization of payments and slapped restrictions on the use of cash in various transactions. Officials were citing the high level of cash in the system, counterfeit notes and black money as reasons for demonetisation.

Currency in circulation (CIC) has jumped by 19.14 per cent to a record high of Rs 21.41 lakh crore as on March 15, 2019 from the pre-demonetisation level of Rs 17.97 lakh crore on November 4, 2016, indicating that cash is back in the reckoning in the financial system.

Despite the rise in digital transactions, CIC has increased by over Rs three lakh crore in the last one year from Rs 18.29 lakh crore in March 2018, according to the latest data available from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). After Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were withdrawn from the system in November 2016, CIC had fallen to around Rs 9 lakh crore on in January 2017. Cash in the system has been steadily rising even though the government and the RBI pushed for a “less cash society”, digitization of payments and slapped restrictions on the use of cash in various transactions. Officials were citing the high level of cash in the system, counterfeit notes and black money as reasons for demonetisation.