Cash withdrawal still high across the country, more ATMs functioning

According to the officials, Rs 65-70 billion was the average cash withdrawn from ATMs per day

Cash withdrawal continued to remain higher than usual in the past three days across the country even as more automated teller machines (ATMs) started dispensing cash.
 

On Wednesday, citizens withdrew Rs 98.1 billion from all the ATMs in the country – a 16 per cent jump from the Rs 84.7 billion withdrawn on Tuesday — a day when the Union government and the RBI said the cash crunch situation would be eased by printing more notes. Cash withdrawal from ATMs stood at Rs 66.6 billion on April 16, according to data reviewed by Business Standard.

Officials said Rs 65-70 billion was the average cash withdrawn from ATMs per day.

By Thursday afternoon, 82 per cent of the ATMs started functioning across all states, compared with 60 per cent functional ATMs as of Monday. An RBI official said normally 85-90 per cent ATMs should be operational across the country.

“The situation is getting back to normal. Higher cash withdrawal only reflects that adequate money is available in ATMs though the rate of withdrawal is much higher than usual. By Friday, 86 per cent ATMs will be operational,” a senior finance ministry official said.

Situation remained poor in Bihar with 61 per cent functional ATMs, followed by Jharkhand (67 per cent), Karnataka (72 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (73 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (76 per cent). The government has mobilised additio
nal Rs 10 billion to the currency chest in Bihar for distribution within the state and in Jharkhand, a finance ministry official said.
 

“TheRs2,000 notes have started returning to the banking system since Wednesday. The difference between deposits and withdrawal from banks is not materially different now,” the official said.

State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters that the cash crunch at ATMs would be resolved by Friday. “It is not a uniform cash crunch problem. It is there in geographies like Telangana and Bihar. We are hoping that the problem will be resolved by tomorrow because cash is in transition and it is reaching these states by today evening,” Kumar said.

The SBI chief blamed hoarding of cash as one of the reasons for the present situation. “If we (people) hold everything, then whatever supply we (banks) do, it will be insufficient for the country. So it is important that the currency is also recycled.”

An official said the government has ramped up printing of currency notes and is operating all its four presses 24x7. The presses this week have been minting Rs 500 and Rs 200 notes without a break to meet an estimated Rs 700 billion of currency shortfall in the country.

On an average, the four presses of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited operate for 18-19 hours daily with a three-four hour break. But since the time ATMs ran dry, the presses are operating 24x7, the official said.

The government is keeping a tab of daily withdrawal of cash and deposits from banks after it witnessed a sharp difference between the two in April. On Monday, cash withdrawal stood at Rs 294.7 billion against deposits of Rs 236.5 billion. A recent analysis submitted by the RBI showed that the rate of the rate of cash withdrawal over deposits was almost double in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on April 6. The finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that there has been an “unusual spurt in currency demand in the last three months” in some parts of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

With inputs from PTI