Jaitley says RBI will complete remonetisation soon
Finance Minister says India has capacity to implement demonetisation as it was no longer a fragile economy.
Mumbai: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday echoed the views of Prime Minister Nardendra Modi who had earlier said that the entire process of remonetisation will be completed within a short period of time.
Earlier at an event, Modi had said that the country needed only “50 days from now” to remonetise new currency notes back into the banking system.
Jaitley who was speaking at FICCI’s annual general meeting on Saturday said that Reserve Bank of India will be able to complete the exercise very soon. “India has capacity to take decision on demonetisation. It's no longer a fragile economy,” he said.
He reiterated his earlier statement that demonetisation has it is very clear long-term benefits to offer "even if we have to bear short-term inconveniences."
Citing the Constitutional compulsion in implementing the GST, Jaitley said that ideally GST should start from April 1, 2017 and “Constitutional necessity for it to come into force between April 1 and September 16.”
Jaitley also highlighted the transition the country has undergone in the last year. "India has witnessed many changes in last one year. We now have a Monetary Policy Committee." The MPC in RBI was set up on the lines of Federal Open Market Committee in the US and similar bodies in other developed economies.