‘Those dealing in unaccounted cash not safe’

JAITLEY ALSO SAID THAT MEASURES SUCH AS THE GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) AND DEMONETISATION WILL BOOST THE ECONOMY

After the two income disclosure schemes concluded, finance minister Arun Jaitley said in an interview to a news channel that those dealing in unaccounted cash will not be safe.

Jaitley also said that measures such as the goods and services tax (GST) and demonetisation will eventually boost the economy. He added that an ordinance, that was approved by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday, will ensure that the Reserve Bank of India is empowered with more teeth to tackle the issue of bad loans.

Non performing assets — loans that do not fetch any returns — are estimated at over ₹6.7 lakh crore. Public sector banks have been the worst hit with about ₹6 lakh crore of bad loans on their books.

Meanwhile, speaking at a session on ‘Asia’s Economic Outlook: Talking Trade’ on the sidelines of Asian Development Bank’s annual meet in Japan, he also said that protectionist policies could impact US firms if cheaper products and services are not made available to them.

Underlining that free trade was critical, he said that India has not been impacted by US’ protectionist overtones so far.

Jaitley said developed economies gain only when their companies too benefit from cheaper products and services.

“If this itself is reduced, it is quite likely that these companies themselves may become sluggish because then you have to rely on products which are costlier...” he said.