Note ban hit GDP growth by up to 7.3 percentage points: World Bank

A study by World Bank used intensity of lights in evenings and nights to gauge economic activities

The government’s demonetisation during the third quarter of 2016-17 took away up to 7.3 percentage points of growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for that period only, in districts dominated by informal activities, says a new World Bank study.

It used unconventional tools to assess the Narendra Modi government’s controversial move. 

Such districts “experienced drops in local GDP in the range of 4.7 to 7.3 percentage points”, says a policy research working paper.  

The study used intensity of lights in evenings and at nights to gauge economic activities. The study uses this tool to assess three disruptions in South Asia—earthquakes in