The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday hailed the Centre’s decision on demonetisation and said it would strike a blow at the heart of illegal economy.
Describing the decision as a masterstroke by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it said, while it was not possible to have a firm estimate of unaccounted for wealth, it was widely put at around a fifth of the GDP, or around $450 billion.
“While some of this may be stored in cash, some may be in assets such as real estate and jewellery. This negatively affects the business environment, especially for those who comply with the law of land and follow ethical practices,” the CII said in a release. “As we transition to a greater usage of financial technology [fintech] for payments, spending will go up, leading to additional economic growth. This is an economic masterstroke by the PM and must be allowed time to play out,” CII Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee said in the release.
