Denominationwise Imbalance between Currency Requirements and Availability in India: Findings of a Recent Survey

In India it is a common experience that that availability of currencies of various denomination do not often match that corresponding demands. This obviously leads to disorder in the management of the currency in the country. Since supply figures are available while those for the demand by the public are not, no idea about the magnitude of discrepancy between the demand for currencies of various denominations and the supply of the same can be made. In this paper we have presented some estimates of the extent of this discrepancy by denomination at the level of banking transactions, based on a survey conducted in the (Greater) Calcutta postal area. The survey methodology developed here is also expected to help the currency management authorities in getting quick estimates of such imbalances in other regions of the country.