Cash crunch: Currency supply fell Rs 150 bn short during April 1-15

The unmet need of cash in the first fortnight of the financial year has potentially caused the cash shortage

Currency in circulation increased by Rs 439 billion to Rs 18,732 billion during March 31-April 13, according to weekly data on reserve money published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  This period is the closest to the first fortnight of financial year 2018-19.

The RBI had provided currency worth Rs 544 billion to the economy in the same period in 2017-18 and Rs 539 billion in 2016-17.

In the past few days, analysts and experts have pointed out that the Indian economy needs more cash in circulation as it grows, commensurate with growth in gross domestic product (in nominal terms).

According to