JOIN USAfter former prime minister Manmohan Singh described the drive demonetisation as a “monumental failure”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it was ironical that those who led the previous government were saying so.
“We were not surprised when we heard from those who ran the government between 2004 and 2014 that they didn’t like these anti-black money steps. The maximum black money was generated in the country between 2004 and 2014. Commonwealth Games scandal, the 2G corruption scam and the coal block allocation case all took place during this period,” Jaitley told reporters outside Parliament.
He said “those who didn’t consider these scandals to be a blunder are now considering this campaign against corruption and black money to be a blunder”.
Rejecting Singh’s contention that the GDP growth will plunge by 2%, the finance minister said: “As far as the medium- and long-term impact on the economy is concerned, including on India’s GDP, it is going to be a positive impact. Lot of money that operates in the shadow economy will now be a part of the banking structure. The banks will have a lot more to support the economy. The private sector investment, which was so far lacking, will now return to economy.”
“The banks that were hitherto struggling because of the NPA (non-performing asset) problem would have a lot more money to lend for agriculture, infrastructure and social sector, and the possibility of banks lending at a lower cost would also rise,” Jaitley added.
He said, “Additionally, when more and more transactions come into the banking network in the long run, you will find taxation, both direct and indirect, improving, therefore in the medium- and long-term, it will have a positive impact.”
Jaitley also sought to bring out the “contrast” between the functioning of the UPA and current NDA regimes, saying that the previous government suffered from “policy paralysis” and hence, could not take “tough decisions” like the incumbent Narendra Modi government.
As the Rajya Sabha was repeatedly adjourned with the Opposition insisting that Modi be present during the entire debate, Jaitley said the Opposition was more keen on disrupting House proceedings than on a debate.