Theoretically, the currency with the public should expand in sync with the nominal income, which again moves in relation to the nominal growth rate of the economy. But the correlation breaks easily when other factors come into play, says Anup Roy.
According to the Reserve Bank of India, the currency in circulation reduced by Rs 360,700 crore to Rs 1,426,900 crore during the week under review.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Dhurandhar's most dangerous idea is that Director Aditya Dhar envisions an Indian state run by a deep state -- an intelligence machinery not accountable to Parliament, courts, or voters. A future political system where unelected officials decide when Indian democracy is 'fit' to function, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced a fresh round of liquidity measures through open-market operations (OMOs) and a foreign exchange buy-sell swap, under which it will inject close to Rs 3 trillion into the banking system. The central bank said it would purchase Government of India securities worth Rs 2 trillion through OMOs, spread across four tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each to be conducted on December 29, January 5, January 12 and January 22.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday launched the foreign currency settlement system in GIFT IFSC, which will facilitate seamless transactions on real-time basis, enhance liquidity management, and ensure compliance.
Earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs "strongly advised" Indians to avoid travel to Iran until further notice, amid rising tensions and protests in the Islamic Republic.
UPI crossed 20 billion monthly transactions for the first time in August 2025, with a transaction value of Rs 24.85 trillion.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said 97.76 per cent of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes have returned to the banking system, and only Rs 7,961 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public. On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation.
The currency in circulation (CIC) declined in the first half of this financial year and this is the first time this has happened in H1 in at least 10 years. The CIC on March 31, 2023, was Rs 33.78 trillion, which fell to Rs 33.01 trillion on September 22 -- a difference of about Rs 76,658 crore. In the first half of the last two financial years, the CIC went up by Rs 33,357 crore in FY23 and Rs 84,978 crore in FY22.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked fintech firms to focus on risk management at a time when criminals are using AI to mimic voices, clone identities and create lifelike videos to manipulate people.
Filling of Rs 100 and Rs 200 notes result in faster depletion and more frequent cash replenishment. This will cost banks and managed service providers more.
"If there is an image of Lakshmi-Ganesh on our currency (notes), our country will prosper. I will write to (the) prime minister in a day or two on this," he said at a media briefing.
The proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to be issued by the Reserve Bank will play a critical role in improving the speed of transactions and reducing the cost of cash, a Deloitte report said on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India is planning to come out with a central bank-backed digital currency, using blockchain technology in 2022-23. As a financial services innovation, CBDCs are likely to play a pivotal role in shaping the 'future of value transfer', the report said, adding that most central banks worldwide are now in various stages of their evaluation of launching their national digital currencies.
The RBI has shelved its plan for polymer notes more than a decade after it invited interest from global manufacturers for one billion pieces of Rs 10 denomination polymer banknotes, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In response to the panic triggered by Trump's trade policies, the RBI net sold approximately $43 billion in the second half of FY25 to curb volatility, as the rupee plunged to a low of 87.95 per dollar in February this year.
To ease the potential liquidity stress, the Reserve Bank on Friday slashed Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4 per cent, a move that would unlock Rs 1.16 lakh crore bank funds. The RBI on May 4, 2022 had raised CRR to 4.5 per cent from 4 per cent in an off-cycle Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, with effect from May 21 the same year.
Non-banking entities such as fintech firms will have to tap into use cases beyond peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions to scale up the presence of the retail version of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is also known as the e, said industry players. These use cases will enable programmable transactions across domains, including the government's direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes, with subsidies restricted to specific purposes such as food coupons, hospital bills, fertilisers, pesticides, and cross-border remittances.
Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has said the central bank could lose control over money supply and inflation management if cryptocurrency is allowed in the country. Speaking at a webinar organised by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business, Rao also said India's case for issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) may not be strong as there are capital controls. "Crypto is backed by algorithms and there is fear that the central bank might lose control over money supply and inflation management.
The weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity may result in the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to cut the repo rate by another 25 basis points, opine top economists. They also said the external economic pressures like trade policies and others would require continued RBI's accommodative stance and policy support for the Indian industry to sustain the growth.
'The RBI's MPC will maintain the current policy rates (6.50%) at the policy meeting, given ongoing inflationary pressures.'
Demonetisation of the high value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 did not have any discernible impact on currency in circulation (CIC) in the country, which has soared by almost 83 per cent since its announcement on November 8, 2016. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the decision of the government on demonetisation. On November 8, 2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced demonetisation of old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes and one of the key objectives of the unprecedented decision was to promote digital payments and curb black money flows.
Rs 500 bill accounts for over 51 per cent of the value of currency in circulation.
The old banknotes will remain in circulation concomitantly with the banknotes being issued now
The circulation of fake currency notes is on the rise in Andhra Pradesh and what the police fear is the growing proximity between Naxals and terrorists. Vicky Nanjappa reports
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Chests are select branches of banks authorised by RBI for distribution of notes and coins.
Andhra Pradesh police, with the help of Enforcement Directorate (ED), is contemplating to attach properties of the members of the gangs involved in the circulation and smuggling of fake Indian currency notes in the state.
In a major fake currency haul, the Bangalore police on Tuesday arrested nine persons and seized fake currency worth Rs 40 lakh. The police also seized six carbines, guns and six revolvers.
In the past couple of months, the major carriers of fake currency have been women. Indian agencies have managed to stop the smuggling of counterfeit notes from the Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan borders , to large extent. This has prompted the terror groups to shift their focus towards Dubai and Saudi Arabia from where they manage to smuggle fake currency into India.
Anticipating panic and rush at bank counters, the Reserve Bank of India as well as the government has set up control rooms in Mumbai and the national capital to avoid any crisis, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said.
'The RBI obviously gets to know when an entire series of currency notes has been faked. I fail to understand why they continue with the series despite it being faked,' former CBI director Joginder Singh tells Vicky Nanjappa.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said nearly 97.26 per cent of the Rs 2,000 bank notes have been returned to the banking system, and only about Rs 9,760 crore worth of the notes are still with the public. On May 19, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation. "The total value of Rs 2,000 bank notes in circulation, which amounted to Rs 3.56 lakh crore as at the close of business on May 19, 2023 when the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 bank notes was announced, has declined to Rs 9,760 crore as at the close of business on November 30, 2023," the RBI said in a statement.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said that RBI is monitoring the situation regularly with regard to the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes and expressed confidence that the entire exercise will be completed in a non-disruptive manner. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes as part of its currency management and permitted the exchange of Rs 2000 currency notes up to Rs 20,000 in one go from Tuesday onwards. The exchange or deposit window is available until September 30, 2023.
The communication was clear, transparent and worded in a manner that did not induce any fear in the minds of the people, point out A K Bhattacharya.
Intelligence Bureau and investigating agencies have established that fake currency funds terror in India. IB officials say there is a whopping Rs 17,000 crore worth of fake currency in circulation in India. While it funds terror organisations, it also helps intensify economic terrorism in the country. Sameer, one of the accused in the Hyderabad twin blasts, said in his confession and recent narco analysis conducted in Bengaluru that the notes are printed in Pakistan.
Addressing a workshop of state police nodal officers, Vijay Shankar suggested better cooperation between the state police and the central security agencies to chalk out a plan to deal with such criminals, who indulge in printing fake currency.
Aiming to check the menace of fake Indian currency notes, the Central Bureau of Investigation is creating a national data bank of such notes to trace their origin.
Although the RBI did not give any reason for withdrawal of pre-2005 currency notes, the move is expected to unearth black money held in cash.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, and existing notes in circulation can either be deposited in bank accounts or exchanged by September 30. The bank notes in Rs 2,000 denomination will continue to be a legal tender, the RBI said in a statement. In order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, the RBI said exchange of Rs 2,000 bank notes into bank notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023.
