Demonetisation in-principle was a good move: Jalan

Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan today said demonetisation in-principle was a good move to eliminate black money but in terms of consequences it did not work.

"Demonetisation, in terms of the principle of it, nobody can object to black money being tapped, or if demonetisation is being done to make sure that black money hoarders declare their money. But in terms of the consequences, you can see that it didn't work," he said at an NCAER event here.

"Now if it didn't work, then we have to make sure what is it that we can do in its place which can actually work," he said.

Noting that there is a structural issue in policy making, he said policy is made by politicians and executed by the administrative system and policy making should be flexible and respond to change in circumstances.

In actual policy making you have to be practical, he added.

Talking about current global scenario, he said the only thing happening is de-globalisation.

On the occasion, former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar while giving C D Deshmukh lecture said policy making is required to address market failure, improve efficiency and equity in the society.

With regard to taxation Kelkar said, it should be stable and simple which gives investors confidence to invest.

He also advocated a single GST rate as it is simple to administer.

So simplicity is the first mantra of policy making, he said adding right sequencing is another important pillar of policy making.

Citing example, he said exchange rate reform preceded trade reforms during the liberalisation and it succeeded.