Cash is no more a king in Corona hit world, and circulation of money has taken a hit. Since times immemorial, the exchange of goods and services for money has been essential. In Odia, there is a saying, ‘Laxmi Chanchala’ meaning that goddess Laxmi that symbolizes money is always to be circulated for the economy to be in shape and functioning well. Money is liquid and keeps changing hand, circulation of money is the oxygen for the economy and society.

However, Corona has toppled this age-old tradition wherein circulation of money has come to a standstill. People either don’t have cash in hand because of unemployment due to lockdown and trimming of the firm size. Many who have money fear going out and spend. They keep it to bare essentials – food and medicines. The materialistic wishlists of people have taken a back seat. Some are also cutting expenses as these are tough times and saving because of fear. Some are also living on shoestring budgets. Some even are not using cash transaction because that can be one of the causes of the spread of the virus!

As a result, all the activities like shopping, tourism, hospitality, cab aggregators, delivery people, online shopping forums, adventure trips and travel have come to a halt. People are coping with the stress of being at home, keeping mentally stable and preparing for the post COVID world. I am not even going to the stock market. For instance, today is Akshay Tritya, and women would have splurged money on buying gold and jewellery in regular times. But this conventional sacred activity has been paid no attention to, in fact, there is no talk of that on the market or social media. The massive mansions and plush shops and malls are locked down, and people are not going to go to markets soon.

The moral of writing this, to cut a long story short, that money is there in the market. It has to begin circulation so that oxygen reaches all in ripple effect and recovery starts happening. Not that it is going to happen so soon, it will take its time. But gradual relaxation and pumping of money will give breathing space to small and medium businesses. If we take the right policy direction, India has the potential to emerge a winner in the post-pandemic world.