Dispelling rumours that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was unaware of demonetisation, Power Minister Piyush Goyal on December 3 said he knew it and kept it as secret despite being “very friendly and open”.
“When the bombshell (demonetisation) came… Every body wanted to know how Mr Jaitley could keep the secret so well. This is the kind of commitment a tall leader has… when the time comes, they keep secret from everybody,” Goyal said during a session at a Leadership Summit here. Asked whether Jaitley knew it, he replied, “Yes obviously. He is the finance minister.”
Earlier last month, the Centre disbanded old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from mid-night of November 8 to deal with the menace of black money.
Goyal also indicated that the government will take stern action against those who are misusing the concessions given to honest people.
“What I am hearing about their (chartered accountants) role in the last 22 days, we are quite disappointed… we are finding that there is a nexus of certain professionals, certain bankers and possibly certain officials in parts of the country where misuse of the ability of honest people to transact is being carried out,” he said.
He warned that the government will deal with the issue with “heavy hands”.
Explaining further, he said, demonetisation is going as per the plan. It was loud and clear that it would have short-term pain for 50 days.”
On downturn of economy due to demonetisation, Goyal said, “It could be for month or two or this quarter.
But if you are moving informal economy into formal economy… the transactions were never reported as part of GDP… it will only add to GDP.”
However, he cautioned, “Automobile sector is a little bit of surprise… people bought two-wheelers and four-wheelers by cash (payments).
That is truly a surprise… we should be able to track every vehicle which is sold… otherwise terrorist activities, petty theft or serious crimes will never get traced.
