India
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RBI counts 176 billion banknotes as cash paradox grows
BBC News··15 Sept
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Shirish Chandra Murmu said currency in circulation keeps growing at double-digit rates even as digital payments expand. The RBI now has 176 billion banknotes in circulation, printing 28-30 billion fresh notes yearly and retiring about 21 billion. Research cited by the BBC said 94 percent of transactions were cash-based in 2019. Murmu called the.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Households and shops still need physical notes for wages, rural trade and small purchases despite UPI growth.
- RBI planners face harder forecasts for note printing and ATM replenishment across 19 regional offices.
- Business correspondents in villages remain a key channel alongside more than 250,000 ATMs.
What's Happening
- Murmu spoke to central bankers in Jakarta last month.
- He compared India's stock to about 56 billion US dollar bills and 30 billion euro notes.
- Economist Anirudh Tagat told the BBC India's scale makes the paradox a novel case study.
How cash reaches the public
- Currency in circulation counts notes and coins held by the public and businesses.
- Cash reaches users through RBI offices, bank branches, ATMs and business correspondents.
- Tagat said the pattern intensified after the 2007-08 global financial crisis.
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