Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday defended demonetisation, arguing that the exercise had reduced corruption and increased transparency.
This came four years after he announced the surprise decision to replace nearly 86 percent of all Indian cash which sent shockwaves through the economy which is yet to fully recover.
On the fourth anniversary of the decision on Sunday, PM Modi tweeted –
"Demonetisation has helped reduce black money, increase tax compliance and formalization and given a boost to transparency. These outcomes have been greatly beneficial towards national progress. #DeMolishingCorruption."
On November 8, 2016, PM Modi had announced the decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from midnight with four hours notice. In order to withdraw new notes, people stood in queues for weeks at ATMs and banks, plunging businesses into chaos.
While economists describe demonetisation as a major blunder, BJP said demonetisation was an "attack" on corruption and black money that were rampant during the "lost decade" of the Congress-led UPA government.
According to BJP spokesperson Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the exercise resulted in cleaning up of the economy, formalisation of the informal sector and revenue aggregation.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the other hand said 99.30 per cent of all notes banned managed to come back into its system.
It may be mentioned that as per the World Bank, India's annual economic growth from 8.25 percent in 2016 to 5.02 percent in 2019.
In a speech during its announcement, PM Modi asked people to bear the pain for 50 days and if the situation did not improve, he was ready for "any punishment".
