Remonetising of Rs 500 note should be Govt's top priority: CII

Calling for 're-monetisation' of Rs 500 notes to be given top priority by the government, CII President Naushad Forbes today said this is only way to tide over the demonetisation-related problems.
"I think the only way is through the rapid effective remonetising. Rs 2,000 notes are good in terms of value, but at the end of the day, it is difficult for someone tospend Rs 2000 note," Forbes told reporters here.
Forbes, who is also Co-Chairman of Forbes Marshall, was in the city to attend the inaugural session of the National Quality Summit 2016 organised by the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"As 500 rupee note series come into circulation, I think the pain will start to lessen" he said.
"We need tosupport all efforts of the government in making that happen asmuch as possible," he added.
At the same time, there should be more and more usage of new technologies to help those who do not even have bank accounts or Aadhar cards, Forbes said.

Forbes said he has less sympathy for the real estate sector, but much more for consumer goods companies who have registered a huge drop in sales.
"Frankly for the real estate sector, I have less sympathy, but have much more sympathy for all consumer goods companies because they have registered huge drop in sales."

Forbes said things however are recovering from what it was in first three days of the announcement.
"Some companies in first three days, registered 90 per cent drop in sales and as of today it is a 50 per cent drop. So things are recovering, but 50 per cent is still a big number," he said.
He also said it is the right and essential move to wipe out black money.
In the long run, demonetisation is entirely correct and the CII has supported the government's move, but in the short run, there is a lot of pain for consumers, Forbes said.

"In the long run it is entirely correct and the CII hassupported government's move. In the short run, consumers will face a lot of pain which we see in the (bank) lines around the country and the difficulty that the people are having," hesaid.
Forbes said, personally for him, the demonetisation move is an inconvenience, but not a problem in itself.
"For me it is an inconvenience, but inconvenience is not a problem. For people who depend on cash for their living, it is much more serious and we need to see how to address their problems on ground and day-to-day basis," he said.