Would have thrown demonetisation file in dustbin if I was PM: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi has yet again slammed the Narendra Modi government's decision to scrap the old currency notes of high-denomination in 2016.

Kuala Lumpur: In yet another attack on the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that demonetisation was “not a good” initiative as it caused huge damage to the country's economy.

Rahul Gandhi also said that he would have thrown the demonetisation proposal in the “dustbin” if he were the Prime Minister.

Taking everyone by surprise with his reply, Rahul said that he would not have rolled out demonetisation had he been in the government.

''If I was the Prime Minister, and someone had given me a file with demonetisation written on it, I would have thrown it in the dustbin," he said.

"...out through the door, and into the junkyard. That is what I think should be done with demonetisation," the young Congress chief said.

Rahul made these remarks while interacting with the Indian diaspora in Malaysia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8, 2016, announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes would cease to be legal tender.

The Congress party and most of the other opposition parties have been very critical of the Prime Minister's demonetisation move, saying it has caused huge damage to the Indian economy.

Rahul had in February said that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were making attempts to "capture" all institutions in the country.

The Congress president went on and said the idea of demonetisation neither came from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nor Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He claimed that it was the 'Sangh' that gave the idea of demonetisation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who then announced it on November 8, 2016.

However, contrary to what the critics said about the demonetisation move, the IMF recently rejected claims that the goods and services tax (GST) and demonetisation of old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes have permanently slowed down the Indian economy.

These are just “short-term pain”, the IMF said.

In an interview, a senior IMF official said that demonetisation and GST have brought “short-term pain but long-term benefits”. 

He said that IMF expects India's growth to be 6.7 percent this year and 7.4% next year.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented in India from July 1 this year. It brings the economy under a uniform tax regime.