Jaitley blames ‘spurt in demand’; Congress recalls note ban
Amidst reports of a cash crunch from different parts of the country, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government was “tackling the issue quickly” to overcome a “temporary shortage” caused by a sudden spurt in demand.
But with hash tags #cashcrunch and #ATM trending on Twitter all day, Opposition leaders launched a scathing attack on the government.
Minister’s assurance
Responding to the currency shortage, Mr. Jaitley tweeted: “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.”
In a statement, the Finance Ministry said there has been an unusual spurt in currency demand in the past three months and is seen more in some parts of the country like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Appealing to citizens not to panic, the Finance Ministry said, “We continue to have in stock adequate currency notes of all denominations, including of ?500, ?200 and ?100 to meet any demand.”
Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that the “terror of note ban” had returned and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘destroying’ the banking sector with demonetisation.
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