Supply of fruits, veggies may be hit

After the announcement of larger currency denominations being pulled out of circulation, the supply of vegetables and fruits is expected to take a hit. With banks and ATM’s closed for two days, circulation of the liquid cash is bound to be affected. While it is too soon to predict the long-term effects of the move, it is bound to result in an economic upheaval in the coming weeks.

To understand the immediate repercussions of the move, this newspaper spoke to vegetablesellers in the wholesale markets to understand the expected price fluctuations. “All our transactions involve hard cash, even though we have bank accounts, we mostly use cash of large denominations. Of course, for the next few weeks, our business is expected to get affected. We have to make our payments in cash,” said Rajinder Sharma, president of Azadpur Mandi Association.

“Kisan ka nuksan hoga, hum to daam nahi badhaenge, lekin availability ka pata nahi. Kisan ko kaise paisa denge (farmers will face loss, we will not hike price),” he added. Mr Sharma further explained how his sales would get affected if people don’t have 100 rupee notes.

This newspaper also spoke to an economic expert from JNU. “We can expect indirect fluctuations in prices of vegetables. More so in the next two weeks, the markets will adjust themselves depending on the demand and supply cycle. Essentially, the decision will be not so good news for those who are without bank accounts. This mean around 20 per cent of our pollution will face a larger crisis,” said Ravi Srivastava.