It is another matter that Shri Chidambaram’s motivations in all of this seem somewhat moralistic - long-term investment is ‘good’ and must be encouraged; short-term investment and speculation is ‘bad’ and must be discouraged, hence the proposed transaction tax. Hopefully this proposal will be “rolled back”, a term which will go down in etymology as the contribution of shaky Indian governments.

Though a fake moralism is the staple of politics, it has no place when looking at markets. The primary function of all markets is efficiency, continually redefining the balance between demand and supply, for which the pivot is price, and the lubricant volume. Volume taxes are bound to introduce friction into the system, thus reducing efficiency. But the Honourable Minister has his compulsions, and finding ways and means to fund burgeoning, unproductive government expenditure is an unenviable task. Reading the budget speech is an exercise in costume drama - and our finance ministers have traditionally worn a pseudo-socialist cloak, and angrily gesticulated at capitalist greed with a crutch of Marxist provenance. The cloak is tattered, the crutch rusty, but, year after year, the charade continues.

Socialist or not, fortunately, much of our financial system has evolved in the direction of greater fluidity. Some of these shifts can promote efficiency in the way in which we use personal cash.

Time was, it made sense to hold substantial cash and bank balances to meet unforeseen expenses. But, in the last decade or so, there have been four major shifts which should have reduced our need to hold unproductive cash (in this latter category, I include not just currency notes, but also credit balances in savings and current accounts).

The first change is the widespread advent of ATMs. This has meant that cash in the bank is virtually as good as cash in hand. Of course this presupposes a credit balance in one’s drawing account, and didn’t I just say that these balances are idle cash as well? Enter the second shift - new ‘products’ in the banking system. These allow one to invest one’s cash productively, and still be able to access them at short notice. Two such products I find very useful are cash advances against shares, and finance against fixed deposits. In the first kind of product, you pledge your shares to the bank, and, in the process, create an overdraft - typically upto 50 to 60 per cent of the value of the shares pledged. Though there is an annual commitment fee for maintaining this facility, interest is only charged for the amount and time period of your overdraft. Once the facility is created, withdrawal is as automatic as from any other account. And, importantly, if you decide to sell any of the pledged shares, they can be “de-pledged” within a couple of working days.

Similarly, if you create a fixed deposit with your surplus funds, the bank will allow you to draw upto 80 per cent or 90 per cent of this amount without notice. As the balance is returned to the account, the bank’s computers will automatically channel it back into your FD account. For the period these amounts are drawn, you obviously stop receiving interest on the amount drawn, and pay a low interest rate on the loan (which is from your own savings), but this is only 1 to 2 per cent per annum - a tiny price to pay for the satisfaction of putting all one’s cash to productive use.

The third shift is the widespread acceptance of the credit card. Given the high cost of unpaid credit card bills, I am the last person to advocate using plastic as a means of financing expenditure - but the normal billing cycle allows one ample time to make an unexpected payment using one’s credit card, and then liberate the cash required to settle the bill.

The fourth shift is the dematerialisation of shares. This has made shares nearly as liquid as cash in the bank. Place a sale order today, and by all rights, your broker should hand you a cheque within two working days.

If you have a good working relationship with him, in an emergency, there is no reason why he should not hand you a cheque the moment you sign the Delivery Instruction Form (or DIF, the cheque-like form that instructs your bank to transfer your dematerialised shares to his bank).

Each of these innovations in the financial system has converged on one point - bringing other financial products closer and closer to cash. As a result, the latter should have no undue priority in our minds. Get down to serious Sunday cleaning, and pull that RBI issue out of those lumpy pillowcases - Now!

The author is a financially-independent management consultant who splits his time between the fast pace of Delhi and the lush mountains of Kumaon. He can be contacted at expressindia.com