No plan to print currency notes to tide over crisis: Sitharaman

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ The government has no plan to print currency notes to tide over the current economic crisis triggered by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Parliament on Monday.To a question on whether there is any plan to print currency to tide over the crisis, the finance minister said, “No Sir”.

Many economists and experts have suggested to the government to print more currency notes to tide over the difficult economic situation with a view to support the economy ravaged by the spread of COVID-19, and protect jobs. In economic parlance, printing of money is called monetisation of the deficit.

In other words, monetisation of the deficit happens when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) buys government securities directly from the primary market to fund the government’s expenses.India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to have contracted by 7.3 per cent during 2020-21, Sitharaman said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.