Note ban was an ‘unnecessary adventure’, says Manmohan Singh

CHANDIGARH: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday described demonetisation as an “unnecessary adventure” and said such moves had not succeeded anywhere in the world except some Latin American and African nations.

Singh’s comments came amid a renewed debate over the efficacy of the Bjp-led government’s ban on ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes, with then RBI governor Raghuram Rajan too recently speaking out againt the move.

“I don’t think it was technically and economically necessary to launch this adventure. If 86% of country currency is withdrawn from the system then there is bound to be a fallout,” Singh told a gathering of students, faculty and professionals at the Indian School of Business in Mohali.

Singh said the economy slowed down due to demonetisation as well as glitches in the implementation of the Goods and Service tax (GST) regime.

In the last quarter of 2016-17, the growth rate of GDP was 6.1% as compared to 5.7% in the first quarter of 2017-18, he said, months after a forceful speech in Parliament when he described demonetisation as a “monumental mismanagement” and predicted that it might shave at least 2 percentage points off India’s economic growth rate.

“We must grow at 7 to 8% to resolve our development issues,” he added. Earlier this month, Rajan estimated that the country’s GDP had taken a hit of between 1% to 2% due to demonetisation, which translated to a sum of around Rs 2 lakh crore. The former Prime Minister said authoritarian responses cannot solve the real problems of the people or make life worth living.

SINGH SAID THE ECONOMY SLOWED DOWN DUE TO NOTE BAN AS WELL AS GLITCHES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GST REGIME