The Goan Network
PANAJI
December 1 being the salary day for government employees saw heavier withdrawals than usual in several banks in Panaji. As a result, bankers were seen struggling to find adequate cash to satisfy the needs of customers.
A senior banker from Panaji said, “We had 300 payments on December 1 due to salaries of government employees getting credited. Even on November 30, we had 300 payments as pensions got credited. We normally don’t have more than 150 payments in a day.”
In many cases, bankers found it difficult to give maximum withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 to account-holders for the lack of cash. Banks, which had arranged for cash 4-5 days ago, had almost run out of cash by afternoon, which made them run from pillar to post.
A manager from a public sector bank informed, “We got cash from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on previous Saturday. We had heavy withdrawals on November 30 due to pensions. Today, we have requested our customers that we can allow a maximum of Rs 10,000 withdrawal from accounts and if they want more cash, they should come to our branch on Monday, December 5.”
Several banks in Panaji and suburbs were unable to load cash in ATMs. Heavy withdrawals on account of salaries and pensions had made this problem even more complex.
Most ATMs, which had cash, were dispensing only Rs 2,000 notes. State Bank of India's mobile ATM on 18th June Road was one such ATM and due to that most people preferred not to withdraw cash from it.
Meanwhile, private companies will credit salaries in their employees’ accounts in the coming days. Therefore, liquidity crunch is likely to get worse unless supply of new Rs 500 notes and Rs 100 notes is increased significantly.
