What New York Times has to say about demonetization?

The New York Times editorial said that “PM Modi’s demonetization was atrociously planned, executed and there is little evidence that it fought corruption.”

“Two months after the Indian government abruptly decided to swap the most widely used currency notes for new bills, the economy is suffering. The manufacturing sector is contracting; real estate and car sales are down; and farm workers, shopkeepers and other Indians report that a shortage of cash has made life increasingly difficult.The swap was atrociously planned and executed. Indians had to line up for hours outside banks to deposit and withdraw cash. New notes have been in short supply because the government did not print enough of them in advance. The cash crunch has been worst in small towns and rural areas,” the reputed paper’s editorial had to say.

The cost of India’s man-made currency crisis

This was the title of the editorial piece: The cost of India’s man-made currency crisis. “There is little evidence that the currency swap has succeeded in combating corruption or that it will forestall future bad behaviour once more cash becomes available,” the daily said in the editorial.

The daily also stated that no economy can lose that much currency in a few weeks without creating major hardship and certainly not one like that of India, where cash is “used for about 98 per cent of consumer transactions by volume”.

“Many Indians have said that they are willing to tolerate some pain in the fight against corruption. But their patience won’t last if the cash crunch continues and the swap does little to reduce corruption and tax evasion, as many economists predict,” said the editorial.

Meanwhile the ruling party at the centre has publicized PM Modi’s “person of the year” status but not the severe criticism from all around the globe about the currency crisis created by him.